Teen Titans: Enter The Jackal
by EVAPilot101783
Summary: My own little fanfic with an original character. A new threat and an unlikely ally present themselves to the Titans. This story was written years ago and this is my first time putting it online, so bear with me. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

NOTE: This is set AFTER the three-episode series "The End".

**Enter: The Jackal, Chapter 1**

By Kevin Jackson

It's 9pm, Friday night. The Titans are at home enjoying a stay-home pizza and game night. Already eating through most of the pizza, they've completed a number of board and card games, including _Trivial Pursuit_ (in which Cyborg swamped the competition), _Charades_ (where Beast Boy shined), _Forces of Nature_ (I'm assuming that's the name of the card game they played in the episode "Winner Take All"; anyway, Robin won), and _Monopoly_ (where Starfire carelessly bought everything she landed on, and ironically ended up winning because people constantly landed on her properties). They are now playing the final and most interesting game of the night: _Truth Or Dare_.

With a smirk on his face, Cyborg points out Beast Boy. "Ok, BB. Your turn. Truth or dare?"

Without hesitation, Beast Boy responds excitedly. "I'm ALL dare! Bring it on, Cy! I ain't afraid to go to the limits!"

Cyborg looks around while rubbing his chin. "Alright! Hmm…" He looks at Starfire. "…I got it. Star, is your room unlocked?"

With a confused look, Starfire responds. "I believe so. Why do you ask?"

"Ok, then", Cyborg says. "You wanna go the limits? Then I dare you to play the rest of game night wearing one of STARFIRE'S UNIFORMS!"

Beast Boy laughs at the idea. "WHAT?!"

"He is to wear my clothes??", says Starfire while scratching her head.

With a light smirk, Raven mutters, "This I gotta see."

Starfire leads Beast Boy to her bedroom to give him a set of her uniform. Ten minutes later, Starfire returns.

"Well, where is he?", says Robin with a smile on his face.

Starfire giggles. "Friends, I wish to present to you the new and improved BEAST BOY!"

Beast Boy struts through the door in Starfire's uniform as if walking down a catwalk. He shouts "TA DA!" while striking a pose.

Everyone in the room falls over laughing at the sight. Even Raven couldn't help but to let out a few giggles under her breathe.

Cyborg rolls around while laughing hard. "Oh wow he's SOOOO cute!"

"Yeah! Nice figure!", yells Robin while clenching his gut in laughter.

Beast Boy sits back down with the group, letting out a few snickers of his own. "Hey, don't hate me cuz I'm beautiful!"

"Ravishing", says Raven while covering up her last few feint giggles.

Cyborg sits back up while wiping tears from eyes. "Oh man! Remind me to get a picture of this!"

Robin wipes tears from eyes while still letting out a few giggles. "Ok ok. Your turn to choose, Beast Boy."

With little hesitation, Beast Boy responds. "Alright. I choose Starfire."

"Oh. Am I to put on your clothing now?", says Starfire with a curious look on her face.

While others giggle at that idea, Beast Boy gets a mental picture her in his uniform. "Hmm…Actually, you wouldn't look that bad, but first thing's first. Truth or dare?"

"Uhm…dare?", says Starfire while curiously scratching her head.

"Dare? Ok, then. I dare you to…" Beast Boy thinks hard, then looks at Robin, who sits directly next to Starfire and sipping on some cola. With a devious grin, Beast Boy says, "I dare you to smooch with Robin!"

Robin spits cola in reaction, coughing and nearly choking. "W-W-WAIT A MINUTE, WHAT?!"

A puzzled Starfire says, "Smooch?? What is smooch?? Is it painful? I do not wish to hurt Robin."

Cyborg says with a snicker, "No no, a smooch is a kiss, Star."

Starfire's eyes light up. "Oh! You are referring to k'sheeshee! _[invented word; Tamaranian for "passionate kiss"]_ Ok! With a smile on her facve, she turns to Robin, who starts slowly inching away from her.

"N-n-n-now wait a second, Star", says Robin as he puts his hand out to keep her at bay. "This isn't right. We don't have to-"

Starfire grasps his head with both hands and pulls him toward her, her superhuman strength preventing him from getting away. It doesn't take her long to connect her lips to his and lock in a passionate kiss. Robin stops squirming and turns completely red, practically melting in Starfire's hands. The mouths of the others drop as they kiss, and Beast Boy pulls a flash camera out of nowhere and snaps a picture of it. Starfire then lets him go, blushing and giggling as he falls over.

Beast Boy and Cyborg yell "SCORE!" as they high five one another.

"Boys", sighs Raven.

Starfire sits back up in Indian-style. "Is it my turn to initiate a truth or dare?"

Cyborg nods. "Take it away, Star."

"Ok." Starfire thinks about it for a few seconds before making her decision. "Raven, do you wish to truth, or dare?"

Raven ponders calmly. "Hmm…Truth."

With a smile, Starfire claps her hands together. "Very good." With a confused look on her face, she asks, "…What do I do next?"

Beast Boy responds, "Ask her any question you want, and she HAS to tell the truth", then with a devious grin, "or suffer the consequences."

When Beast Boy mentioned the consequences, Raven thought back to a past _Truth Or Dare_ game where Starfire didn't fulfill her dare, resulting in her getting tied down Y-form to a table, boots removed and tickled by the group on her armpits, belly and feet.

Raven shuddered at the thought of being tickle-tortured. "Not gonna happen."

"Alright, Raven", says Starfire as she thinks hard about a question to ask. "…Have you ever done k'sheeshee?"

Raven raises an eyebrow. "Done what??"

Beast Boy has a smirk on his face. "Yeah, Ray. You know, what she just did with Robin."

Raven's eyes widen slightly. Realizing now what Starfire's getting at, she silently looks away from the team with what seems to be an almost embarrassed look on her face, trying her best to avoid giving an answer.

Starfire leans over to try and make eye contact. "Well?"

Beast Boy's grin seems to get bigger and bigger as he taunts Raven. "Yeah. Spit it out, Ray."

Raven still avoids eye contact. She now shuts her eyes, as if in disappointment. "…I…um…"

The intense interrogation is interrupted by the sound of the Titans Tower alarm. A map is automatically put up on the big screen, shining red dots at a particular location in the city where a disturbance has ocurred. Cyborg is the first to stand.

"It'll have to wait. We gotta move!", says Cyborg with authority. As they all rush out, Cyborg spots Robin on the floor, still red and in a trance from Starfire's kiss. "C'mon, lover boy", he says as he grabs Robin on their way out.

The scene switches to an ancient artifacts museum, which shares a similar exhibit and size to that of the Smithsonian. Here, a silent alarm had been tripped. It seemed as though the theft had already happened and the thief left the scene, but another figure drops from the ceiling into the main showroom. The shadowy figure is dressed in a black and blood red sleevelss top, black forearm guards with various throwing weapons concealed within, fingerless hand guards, a blood red sash tied around his waste, black cargo-style pants with more weapons in each cargo pocket, and black stealth-like boots. His skin is a darkened tan complexion. He has shoulder-length black hair freely draped over his eyes, and his face is concealed under a worn, blood red sash from the nose down. He appears to be a shinobi. He steps up to an empty glass case which used to house an ancient relic; however, evidence of a hole cut into the glass shows that it was recently broken into. The placard on the case reads _"Hades' Grail"_, and has supporting information on the relic. Before he could read up on it, he notices the flashing red lights on each corner of the showroom, indicating that an alarm had been tripped. He then turns suddenly when an armored security team of three guards shows up, armed with plasma rifles.

The Squad Leader immediately responds with authority. "THERE! TAKE HIM DOWN!"

They open fire as the strange figure dodges and eludes them with quick reflexes. As the chase continues, they eventually lose sight of him and begin to look around. Then suddenly, four white balls drop from an air vent in the ceiling and explode as they hit the floor, releasing knockout gas and dropping all three guards. The figure was hiding in that air vent when the guard lost sight of him. After he knocks them out, he creeps through the vents and emerges on the roof of the museum, where his getaway is interrupted by the presence of the Teen Titans.

Robin speaks with a tone of intimidation. "Exhibit's closed. You're coming with us." His intimidation tactics do not shake the shinobi's psychy as he takes a defensive stance, ready to fight the Titans. "Titans! GO!", yells Robin as he leads them into battle.

As the Titans leapt into action, Robin attacks first with his staff. Each swing was dodged almost easily before the shinobi disarms Robin. Robin then begins swinging kicks and punches, all dodged or blocked until the shinobi catches Robin's fist and throws him hard into the ground. Next is Beast Boy, attacking in the form of a giant gorilla and swinging punch after punch, none of which are connecting. The shinobi notices Beast Boy's careless fighting tactics and uses this against him. After Beast Boy's last swing, the shonibi dodges and ends up behind Beast Boy, conjures fire in the palm of his hand, then lites a fire on Beast Boy's butt.

Beast Boy instantly turns back to human form, running around and yelling like a classic cartoon character. "AAAAHHHHHH! HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOOOOOTTTTT!"

While Beast Boy is still running around, the shinobi peeks back to see a huge sonic beam shot right at him. He suddenly teleports out of the beam's path right before it hits, leaving a shocked and confused Cyborg looking on in awe.

"What?!", says Cyborg, looking around with a confused look on his face. "Wait a minute! How did he-"

The shinobi reappears in front of Cyborg, leering at hiim silently. With little hesitation, Cyborg swings a huge punch, which the shinobi swiftly ducks; then, in a single combo, he sweep kicks Cyborg off his feet, swings an upwards kick to launch Cyborg in the air, then leaps and grasps Cyborg in a power bomb hold and power bombs him back down onto the roof of the museum, leaving a slight body imprint. Cyborg is out cold. It is the girls' turn.

Raven is the first to strike as she chants her spell. "_Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!"_

Two pieces of the concrete in the roof lift up. Raven claps her hands together once, the two pieces to start closing in fast on the shinobi. He kneels and grasps onto Cyborg just before the two concrete fragments collide.

Starfire suddenly shrieks in fear. "Raven!", she yells. "What about Cyborg?!"

Raven gasps with a look of concern as she splits the concrete apart, only to find Cyborg and the shinobi have mysteriously vanished. Both she and Starfire are puzzled at the sight.

Starfire gazes on with widened eyes. "You...made them vanish??", she asks in confusion.

A sweatdrop trickles down Raven's face as she responds. "I didn't...I don't think I did."

At that moment, Cyborg drops out of a dark vortex cloud onto his back right in front of the girls, startling them with gasps.

A concerned Starfire rushes to his side. "Cyborg!"

Raven cannot help but wonder, "I don't get it. He…saved him??"

Without warning, the shinobi reappears behind Raven, grabs her cloak and wraps it around her arms tightly before tieing it off with her hood. He does this to avoid causing harm to her. Raven clumsily stumbles around, fighting to free herself from her bondage until she finally falls over onto her side. Starfire sends a barrage of star bolts at the shinobi, who chooses not to budge from his spot. All of the energy attacks hit everything except the shinobi, who merely shakes his head at Starfire as if to say "You're trying too hard." Growing impatient, Starfire flies in to swing a punch, but the shinobi disappears again. Landing to her feet, Starfire frantically looks around for her opponent. The expression on her face shows worry and fear as she can only imagine what he would do when he reappears. Suddenly, she feels the shinobi's hand covering her mouth from behind. Before she could react, he taps a pressure point in her neck with a knife-edge chop, instantly putting her to sleep. He gently places her limp body down on the surface of the roof. Then, out of nowhere,…

"GET AWAY FROM HER!", yells Robin as she rushes in with a flying jump kick. His attack hits the shinobi with much force, sending him into a side wall and knocking the sash from his face. Robin immediately tends to Starfire. "Star, you ok?", he says as he rubs her face in concern. "Say something."

The shinobi rubs bare face, revealing the appearance of a young boy who looks no older than fifteen years old. His eyes glaze a hue of black as he leers at Robin, and letting out a deep demonic growl under his breathe.

A sweatdrop trickles down Robin's face as the growl starts to creep him out. "…Who are you??", asks the puzzled Robin.

The shinobi takes a defensive stance as he calmly responds. "Fight me…and find out."

Robin takes a defensive stance, baiting easily into a one-on-one fight with the shinobi. He rushes to him as they begin intense hand-to-hand combat. Both are exchanging swing after vicious swing, none of which are connecting. After a few moments of continued battling, the two of them stop and regain defensive stances, each breathing hard.

Knowing that it's rare that many warriors give him such a good fight, the shinobi cannot help but compliment Robin. "…You're good. I'm enjoying this."

"...That makes two of us", replies Robin with a smirk on his face.

They rush in and begin round two. Other than a repeat of the previos round, the shinobi avoids most of Robin's blows and ends up distancing himself. Seeing this as a chance for a ranged shot, Robin hurls two of his red bird shurikens at the shinobi, who quickly catches them between his fingers.

Robin is shocked at the shinobi's reflexes. "What?? No way!"

The shinobi drops red birds, then immediately pulls eight throwing blades from the compartments on his wrist guards and throws them at Robin, pinning him against the side wall. Two knives pin each of Robin's gloves, one on each of his upper pant legs and one on each of his boot ankles. Robin struggles to free himself, but to no avail.

The shinobi calmly steps up to Robin. "Good fight", he says. "We should do it again sometime."

Robin struggles to get free. "What is it you want?", he asks. "Why are you here?"

Beast Boy stands up about ten feet away, finally putting out the fire on his butt. "Ah, relief", he says with a relaxing sigh until the shinobi suddenly lights more fire on his butt. "AAAAAHHHH!", he yells as she starts running around again. "WHY ME?!?! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Turning his attention to Robin once again, the shinobi responds to his inquiry. "I'm here for the same reasons you all are. Nothing more."

"Quit lying!", yells Robin with aggravation. "We're here to help the museum. You're here to rob it! Now what did you take, and what've you done with it?!"

The shinobi lets out a sigh of annoyance. "I know about you, Robin. You were trained by Batman himself, right? You also fight like him. I commend you on that. But there's one difference in tactics between the two of you: Batman does his research before he starts pointing fingers."

"Huh??", says Robin, confused at the shinobi's words.

The shinobi turns and starts walking away. He then suddenly stops in midstep. "Oh, and to answer your earlier question,…" He peeks over his shoulder Robin. "…It's Jackal." The shinobi, now identified as Jackal, teleports away from the scene.

Robin is left pinned to the wall with a slight frown on his face, left only to mutter a single word to himself. "…Jackal."

TO BE CONTINUED


	2. Chapter 2

**Enter: The Jackal, Chapter 2**

By Kevin Jackson

It's now 11:15pm, Friday night. The scene now is what looks like the inside of an ancient shrine, similar to those of feudal Japan. A large man sits on a throne in a room lit with candles. He wears a silver hooded robe [similar to that worn by Organization XIII in _"Kingdom Hearts II"_], baggy black pants and silver mage-like boots. His face is mostly hidden beneath the shadow of his hood, only revealing a thin mustache and goatee. A masked minion – wearing a silver hooded top with black pants and boots, a full-head black mask, and standing about five feet tall – steps into this room, kneels before the robed man and presents him the Hades' Grail.

"Glorious", says the hooded man with a smile on his face. He stands and takes the grail, studying it in amazement. "You have done well. Seems like it was too easy. Did you attract the attention of our friend?"

The masked minion nods silently.

The hooded man nods as if that was the answer he was looking for. "As expected. Now, begone", he says as he walks to an alter on the side of the room. When the masked minion leaves, he places the grail on the alter, then sits back down on his throne, looking out in front of him with a satisfying grin on his face. "…Lord Shiir-Kov. It is I – Xanth. I have the grail, as you requested."

A holographic image of a hellish-looking man appears in front of Xanth. He looks like a man in his late 40's, dark tan complexion and a thick mustache and goatee. He speaks with a deep, yet authorative tone. "Well done, Xanth. Your service has been most appreciated."

"I have collected this relic for you", Xanth replies. "Now I wish to claim my reward for my services."

Shiir-Kov replies calmly. "Patience, Xanth. Good things shall come in due time. Besides, the grail was only phase one. More must be done before our goals can be met."

Xanth stands aggressively, speaking out in frustration. "You mean YOUR goals! My only goal is to be omnipotent, and to claim complete domination, all of which I can accomplish WITHOUT your assistance!"

"Perhaps", Shiir-Kov replies with a calm not, "but know this. Without the proper tools for the ritual, I cannot escape the confinements of the Underworld; and without me, you cannot have your army of darkness to aid you in your quest. So if you want my services, you have no choice but to provide yours."

Xanth shows aggravation in his face, knowing that Shiir-Kov is right. He sits back down, leaning back in his chair with his chin resting on his fist. "…Very well, then."

Shiir-Kov smirks. "That's the spirit, Xanth. Now, our next step is acquiring the Necronomicon."

Xanth looks up with a raised eyebrow. "The what?"

"The ancient 'Book of the Dead'", Shiir-Kov replies. "It contains the scriptures needed to awaken the dead and open the rifts between Earth and the underworld realms. Get it, and you shall be one step closer to having your army."

Xanth shows a bit of concern in his face as he lowers his fist from his chin. "You should know that Jackal showed up soon after my minion fled the scene. Who's to say he won't try to interfere again?"

Shiir-Kov snickers. "Ah yes. Jackal. I know how predictable he can be, so I monitored the ordeal. Seems as though he's taking the blame for this little incident, not to mention an altercation involving him battling the Teen Titans."

Xanth can't help but let out a sarcastic laugh. "Ha. Teen Titans. That group of delinquents does not concern me."

"Nor I", says Shiir-Kov as his smirk remains in tact, "but as long as they continue to pursue Jackal like they did, he'll act as a decoy while we continue to collect the necessary tools. Wouldn't you agree?"

Xanth nods as he rubs his chin. "Hm. Indeed. But what if Jackal, or these so-called 'Titans', comes on to us?"

Shiir-Kov's smirk starts to fade away as he replies. "As far as these Titans are concerned, they are expendable. As for Jackal, do what you must to complete your objectives, but do not destroy him under any circumstances."

Xanth speaks with disgust in his voice. "Spare him?? Why should I spare his life, after he has caused us so much trouble already? What significance does he possibly have to you?"

Shiir-Kov sighs. "...Because he reminds me so much of…me, and I wish to confront him myself once I cross over." A smirk returns to Shiir-Kov's face. "After all, any father would seize the opportunity to see his long-lost son."

Xanth is left with a puzzled look on his face. "Son??", he says.

The image of Shiir-Kov disappears from the room, leaving the puzzled Lord Xanth to ponder over Shiir-Kov's words. Meanwhile, The Titans have returned to Titans Tower after engaging in battle with the mysterious shinobi from the museum who has now identified himself to Robin as Jackal. While no harm at all came upon the girls during the fight, the boys return home sore and worn out.

Beast Boy rubbs his butt, which is now covered with burn marks. "Oww. Dude, what the heck just happened?!"

Cyborg, sitting down in front of computer, answers with disgust in his voice. "What happened?? We got our butts handed to us! That's what happened!"

"Right now, if you're truly my friend, please refrain from using the word 'butt' around me", says Beast Boy as tries to sit down. He immediately hops back to his feet in pain, shrieking in pain. "Yow!"

Starfire walks to Beast Boy with a pillow in her hands. "Here, Beast Boy", she says as she puts the pillow down in a chair.

Beast Boy sits down gently on pillow, melting into relaxation. "Aahhh, that's Heaven. Thanks, Star."

Cyborg tries performing searches on the computer, trying to find records of their opponent. "Man, I've gone up against Slade, Cinder Block, Plasmus, Dr. Light, even Batman during an old training session he and Robin put together. I even fought Trigon on two separate occasions [once in Raven's head and once during _"The End"_], but I've NEVER fought anybody with moves like that!", he yells with annoyance. He turns toward his teammates. "Who was that guy?!"

Robin leans against a side wall, still pondering over what was said to him. "...Jackal."

The team looks over at Robin. "What?", says Cyborg.

Robin replies, "...His name is Jackal."

Raven raises an eyebrow. "Jackal?? You mean like the animal?"

Beast Boy can't help but scratch his chin in curiosity. "Hmm. You know something? After what I just saw, that totally makes sense."

Cyborg is annoyed, yet confused. "Dude, what does a scrawny wolf hafta do with this guy??"

Beast Boy stands. "Ok, time out. You just owned us in Trivial Pursuit, but you don't know anything about a jackal??"

Cyborg has a blank look on his face. "What're you talking about?"

Beast Boy starts sitting back down. "Hello??" He hops back up as his butt still stings a bit. "Eep!" He gently sits back down onto his pillow. "Ah. First of all, jackals aren't wolves, just relatives of wolves. Second, jackals are slender and fast, mostly active at night, and great at concealment, all of which is why they're very similar to wolves. The only difference is that jackals are smaller and have a different colored coat because they live in different habitats than wolves."

Cyborg cuts him off. "Ok ok, I did't ask for a National Geographic special, BB."

"Dude, you're talkin' to a guy with a handbag of animal forms", says Beast Boy with confidence. "I know these things."

Robin can't help but side with Beast Boy. "Believe it or not, Beast Boy's right", he says. "Every physical trait he just described sounds exactly like who we just fought. It makes sense"

Raven speaks as she ponders about Jackal. "Not only that,...I sensed a strange aura from him."

Starfire replies curiously. "In what way, Raven?"

"His powers don't seem like those of a typical ninja sorcerer", says Raven, "and even though he had me tied up and I couldn't see, I heard the way he growled. It's as if he's a demon, or something not of this world, but...I can't quite put my finger on it."

Cyborg punches his palm. "Sounds like a good suspect to me", he says with a tone of determination. "He makes Slade look like a Cabbage Patch Kid."

Robin thinks back to what Jackal said to him before they parted ways. He quickly speaks out. "Hold on. Let's not jump to conclusions just yet. ...I don't think he's a thief."

Beast Boy explodes. "What?! Dude, have you lost it?! This guy roasted my buns like a slab of prime rib!"

"And like Raven said," Cyborg adds, "he seemed pretty shady."

Beast Boy's rant continues. "I mean dude! You don't do that to my buns! What did my buns ever do to him?! When was the last time I was at his house and totally ripped one in front of-"

Robin cuts him off with a huge sweatdrop on his head. "Alright alright, we get it Beast Boy. Hear me out, though. Everything in that museum is priceless, right?

Cyborg replies. "Well yeah, the only affordable stuff is in the gift shop. Even Bill Gates has to take out a loan to buy the cheapest relic in there."

"Exactly", confirms Robin, "so if Jackal really robbed the museum, he wouldn't have stayed there as long as he did just to fight us. And he obviously has teleportation abilities, so he would've ported out of there the second he saw us."

Starfire gasps. "That is true. Even Slade always tried to elude us when he stole valuable technology."

"That's right", says Robin. He stops himself for a brief moment. "Which reminds me." He turns to Cyborg. "Cyborg, can you pull up any records of what was stolen from the museum?"

Cyborg immediately begins pulling up a police report on the computer. Finding what he is looking for, he skins the information for a moment. "Let's see. ...According to the museum owner's report he filed to the cops, the relic is called 'Hades' Grail'".

"Hades?", asks Robin intuitively. "As in Hades, the Greek god of the underworld?

Raven gasps. "No", she says with an expression of shock in her eyes.

"What?", asks Robin.

Raven's few seconds of silence is broken by her explanation. "...I remember going to that exhibit when it opened. Legend has it that Hades' Grail was used in ancient ceremonial rituals to open a rift between the world we know and the underworld, allowing Hades and his minions to walk among man and terrorize all as we know it."

Beast Boy is confused by her words, but tries to understand. "…O-k, so what you're telling me is this brings Hell on Earth?"

Raven nods.

Beast Boy suddenly freaks out, running around the room in a panic. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! WE'RE DOOMED!! IT'S TRIGON ALL OVER AGAIN, DUDES!!!" He tugs on Robin's shirt. "WHAT DO WE DO?! WHAT DO WE DO?!"

Robin smacks Beast Boy across the face to calm him down. "Get a grip, Beast Boy!"

With that smack to the face, Beast Boy snaps out of his frenzy and shakes it off. "...Ok. I'm cool." He then gets smacked upside his head by Cyborg. "Ow!" He turns to Cyborg in anger. "I said I was ok!"

Cyborg looks at him with annoyance. "I know. That one was for being stupid."

Beast Boy morphs into a grizzly bear and locks eyes with Cyborg as if the two were about to fight. Their staredown is immediately broken up by Robin.

"Ok, take it easy, you two", Robin says to calm them down. Beast Boy morphs to human form shortly after. "We're not gonna let something like that happen again. Now I don't know who robbed that museum, but it couldn't have been Jackal. When we ran into him, he wasn't carrying any items on him or any bags, and look at the size of the grail."

Cyborg examines the photograph on the computer. "Wow!", he replies. "That thing's huge! I can drink three cans of root beer out of that thing."

"See?", Robin replies. "There's no way we could've concealed that thing in his clothes without us seeing it. All I'm saying is that he didn't have it at all. And judging by how stealthy he is, there's no way he could've tripped the alarm, which means he couldn't have stolen it."

Starfire's curiosity comes into play again. "Then, if he did not steal it,...who did?"

Robin rubs his chin as he thinks about the situation. "…I'm not sure", he says, "but I think I know where we can start."

"Where?", asks Cyborg.

Robin has a flashback to Jackal's words. _"I'm here for the same reasons you all are. Nothing more."_ With that, he realizes what they can do. "...We start wherever Jackal ends up next.

The team raises an eyebrow at Robin, realizing his suggestion that they search for Jackal.

*invented commercial*

Standing ten feet away from a trampoline is Steve-O, wearing a fresh pair of Sneaux shoes. "Hi! I'm Steve O, and Sneaux shoes are so righteous, you can leap tall piles of manure in a single bound." [NOTE: Don't try this at home!] He runs toward the trampoline, which lies near a twenty-foot-high mountain of manure with a bullseye marked on the other side. Steve O jumps off of the trampoline in an attempt to leap over the tall manure pile only to end up slamming directly into it and rolling down the side, ending up on the ground and completely covered in manure. Steve O find himself laughing and grossed out at the same time. "Well, it's a darn good shoe", he says before cutting to a close-up of a clean Sneaux shoe sitting on the sidelines.

*now back to the story*

12:26am, Saturday morning. The scene is a high-security storage facility designed to house new archeological findings. Here, discoveries are refined, cleaned and stored while respective museums prepare their own storage and/or exhibits for these items. These things are stored behind a digital cipher-locked door, which his guarded by two armed guards, each with a plasma rifle. As the guards stand their normal patrols, the facility's alarm goes off, and they stand ready with their rifles. The guards' comm links beep in a transmission. "ALL UNITS, THIS IS ALPHA 1! THE FACILITY IS UNDER ATTACK! REPEAT – THE FACILITY IS UNDER ATTACK! EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION AND—AAAAAHHH!!" The transmission is suddenly cut. As the guards cock their plasma rifles in anticipation of an attack, one of the guards steps out to get a forward advancement on the impending threat. As they both look around, they hear what almost sounds like an echoed pin drop.

"Did you hear that?", says the guard who stepped out.

The guard still in the doorway replies. "I heard something, but I don't see-" He suddenly gets knocked out by a masked minion who jump kicks him out of nowhere.

The first guard turns around abruptly, yelling "HOLD IT!" as he takes aim. A second minion drops from the ceiling and lands on his rifle, causing the guard to fire at the floor because of the weight. "What-" His words barely leave his mouth before he gets knocked out when the minion roundhouse kicks the side of his head.

Both minions stand after easily taking out the security outside the vault. Moments later, the vault door opens. Another guard steps out.

"You guys ok?", he says before he sees the minions. "WHAT THE?!" He points his rifle, but a third minion swoops out of nowhere and snatches the rifle from his grasp. "HEY!"

At that moment, a fourth minion dashes out and clotheslines his legs to take him off his feet and lean him forward. Once he was off his feet, a fifth minion drops from the ceiling and stomps down on the back of his head, driving his face into the floor and knocking him out cold. All five minions stand victorious, one still holding the rifle that he snatched. The minion that tripped the guard took a security access card from the guard's belt. The other minion drops the rifle as all five enter the vault and close the door behind them.

Inside, they each search the vault for the Necronomicon. They're mostly finding marked cases and drawers, and tables with archeological findings that were either being studied or cleaned during daytime hours. One of the minions finds a metal storage container – about the size of a large treasure chest – sitting at the end of the table. This container is locked by a digital keypad with a cardswipe connected to it. The minion waves over his comrades when he finds it, and the minion with the keycard swipes it on the keypad to open it. Once opened, they find what looks like a book wrapped in a smooth-material cloth. One of the minions picks it up and removes the cloth to reveal a leather-clad book with a demon's face on the cover, locked by a special lock that only a coin-shaped object can open, and wrapped by a thin chain with a coin-shaped object hanging from the chain. They have found the Necronomicon. Just as they confirmed their find, they hear a card swipe outside the vault door. They all dash from view as the door opens.

Five more armed guards enter the room. The leader of the team signals for them to spread out within the vault as he locked the door back. They slowly inch around the vault to make sure nothing was tampered with or missing. One of the guards sees the opened container that used to house the Necronomicon.

The guard gasps, then runs to the opened container. "Sir! The book! It's gone!"

The security leader turns abruptly. "Gone?!" At that moment, he hears the door opening. He turns to see the minions making their escape. "THERE! THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!"

The guards open fire, but the minions make it out the door, shutting it behind them. Once they're all outside, the one carrying the book hurls a throwing star into the keypad to disable it, preventing the door from being opened on either side. The minion carrying the keycard crushes it as they all make their escape from the facility.

Once outside, they dash through the woods behind the facility. While making their way through the woods, they hear the echo of a demonic monster's growl. They stop in their tracks. Surveying the area, the minions are being very cautious as to what might be following them. After moments of silence, Jackal drops down from a tree branch. Using swift kicks and strong punches, he takes out four of them in three seconds. When the fifth minion with the Necronomicon attempts a reversal attack, Jackal ducks it and back elbows the minion to the ground, then jumps near him.

"That's far enough!", he says in an authorative demonic tone.

One of the minions dropkicks Jackal from behind, knocking him onto the ground. When Jackal regains his stance, four of the minions engage in battle with him while the fifth minion attempts to escape with the Necronomicon. Jackal fights off the other four minions as quickly as he can, then teleports into the path of the escaping minion and straight palms him straight in the nose, dropping him instantly and allowing Jackal to retrieve the Necronomicon. The other minions attempted regain control of their stolen item, but Jackal manages to fight them off one at a time. One attempt at an attack ended up with Jackal catching the minion's leg, roaring aggressively in his face, and then throwing him head first into a tree, causing the minion to crack open his head and sparks flying out of his head.

Jackal looks on, surprised at the sight. "Machines??"

While distracted, a minion tosses white balls on the ground that release a thick smokescreen. A few seconds later, another minion sneaks up and kicks Jackal across the head, dropping him to the ground and allowing them to retrieve the Necronomicon, then they make a break for it. While Jackal regains his composure, he lets out a deep growl before getting back up and following them.

The minions manage to get back onto the city streets. They end up stopping in their tracks once Jackal reappears ten feet in front of them, growling and flaming up his hands. After a short stare down, about six white balls drop in front of Jackal and explode in front of him, propelling him hard into a side wall. He then shakes it off and looks up and sees the rooftops swarmed with more minions. They all leap down – looks like two dozen total – and surround Jackal. Just when it looked like Jackal was outnumbered, a large proton beam takes out at least ten of them. Then everyone's attention turns to an approaching blue/silver cruiser with a proton cannon sticking out of the roof. It stops on a dime and the Teen Titans emerge from the vehicle.

"BOOYAH!", yells Cyborg excitdly. "Gotta love my baby's proton cannon!"

While somewhat caught off guard by their presence, Jackal mutters to himself. _"Them again?"_

As the minions advance on the Titans, Robin gives his command. "Titans! GO!"

Everyone engages in battle. Jackal keeps his eyes on the minion who's in possession of the Necronomicon. When the minion tries to make its escape, Jackal hurls a fireball at it, causing it to drop the book. Robin retrieves it.

"Got it!", shouts Robin. "…Whatever it is." He gets kicked in the back and drops it, allowing another minion to retrieve it and make its getaway.

Beast Boy sees the minion attempting to escape. "No, I got it!", he yells as he turns into a falcon. He snatches the book in his talons and takes to the sky. Before he gets far, a minion tosses a flash ball at Beast Boy and blinds him, causing him to drop the book and allowing another minion to retrieve it.

Growing impatient, Jackal teleports in front of the escaping minion, snatches the Necronomicon, and then bats the minion into a side wall, crushing its internal circuitry. Just as Jackal turns around, a minion perched on a short rooftop hurls an eight-inch blade straight into Jackal's left shoulder, making him fall and roar a demonic roar of pain and allowing the minion to retrieve the book. Raven hears Jackal's loud demonic roar of pain after she dispatches a few more minions, then stops the one with the book. She ports in front of it and holds it in place with a wave of her hand, then she waves her other hand to levitate the book into her grasp.

"This doesn't belong to you", she says as she breaks the minion apart with her powers. She looks at the book and is shocked beyond belief when she realizes what it is. "No. The Necronomi-"

At that second, she gets tied up from head to toe by another minion. When she drops the book, she gets kicked down to her back. When the minion retrieves the book, it throws a few white explosive balls at a tall, bare wall that sits over Raven's body. When they explode, the fifty-foot wall begins to tip over onto Raven. As Jackal is still on the ground in pain, he sees that Raven is about to be crushed. Not wanting to see her hurt, he teleports over her body and catches the wall with his back. As he holds the wall up, he roars in pain with the knife still embedded in his shoulder, great amounts of pressure being applied to the wound. He doesn't care, however. His only concern is Raven's safety. Raven looks up at him in disbelief that he's putting himself through so much torture for her well-being.

Finally regaining his vision, Beast Boy notices Jackal's struggle. "DUDE!" He turns into a bull and tries to help Jackal push the wall back to the building.

Cyborg catches view of what's happening after dealing with a few minions. He gasps as he rushes to their aid. "Hang on! I got your back!"

Cyborg positions himself opposite of Beast Boy and assists in holding up the wall. Taking advantage of that opportunity, Robin swoops in and grabs Raven, taking her away from the falling wall.

"Raven, you ok?", asks Robin as he starts cutting her restraints.

Raven is still speechless. "…Yeah…thanks to him."

Once she's free, she waves her hand and psychically pushes the wall back in place with little effort. As she holds it up, Starfire flies over and uses her star beams to weld the wall back in place. Once there, the boys let go, and Jackal drops to a seated position against the wall. During the entire ordeal, the minions have already made their escape.

Beast Boy morphs back to human form, leaning against the wall exhausted. "Whew, that was too close", he says with a sigh of relief.

Starfire shotus with concern. "The Jackal! He is hurt!"

Robin runs up and sees the embedded knife. "Don't move. We're here to help." With that said, he turns to Raven. "Raven, can you heal him?"

Raven nods. "I can try", she says as she starts to concentrate her power.

Jackal cuts her off immediately. "No. Ungh!"

"Hm??", responds Raven with a confused look.

"...No need", Jackal replies.

He pulls the knife from his shoulder while shrieking in pain. He then drops the knife and rips open the clothing over his shoulder to let the wound get some air. Moments later, he lets out a deep growl as the wound glows a fiery red glow and heals itself.

Beast Boy is freaked out at the sight, as are his teammates. "Whoa! Ok, you guys saw that too, right??"

"You can...heal yourself??", asks a confused Robin.

Jackal is now breathing hard and a bit dazed. "...I can", he says as he wipes the blood away. "...But it requires...a lot of energy...to do so." He looks around, surveying the area. "The Necronomicon. ...Did they..."

Cyborg nods. "They got away."

Aggravated, Jackal growls and slams his fist into the ground, cracking it. "Darn it!"

Beast Boy puts his hands out. "Whoa whoa whoa, take it easy, dude", he pleads to avoid more bodily pain.

Starfire kneels over to Jackal with a look of worry in her eyes. "Are you in need of assistance?", she asks.

"...I'll be fine", says Jackal as he stands and shakes off the daze. "...I've been through worse."

Robin steps up to Jackal. "Listen, Jackal …We wanna apologize about earlier. ...See, we thought you were-"

Jackal cuts him off. "Don't worry about it", he says. "I'm used to it. ...After all, I have a history of being misunderstood."

With a look of sympathy, Raven thinks in her mind, "_You're not the only one."_

Robin continues. "Listen, we're taking your advice from earlier, and we're…'doing our research'. Would you mind telling us what's going on?"

Looking around at the Titans, Jackal hesitantly responds. "…Not at all."

Meanwhile, at Lord Xanth's lair, a masked minion walks into Xanth's throne room and presents him the Necronomicon. Xanth takes the book with a strong sense of accomplishment.

"Marvelous!", says Xanth with glee. "Phase two completed."

Shiir-Kov's presence is in the throne room through astral projection. "Excellent", he says with a grin. "Your minions managed to elude both Jackal and those meddlesome Titans." He rubs his chin as he assesses the situation a bit more. "Hmm...And it seems like Jackal has a new infatuation developing. This is getting more and more interesting by the moment."

Xanth laughs at the thought. "Are you telling me Jackal's in love? Aww. How sweet", he says sarcastically.

Shiir-Kov snickers at xanth's remark. He soon shifts back to a more serious tone. "On another note, she would be the perfect aid for our goal. The last thing needed for the ritual is the blood of an untainted maiden." [NOTE: "untainted" means "virgin"]

"Oh?", says Xanth curiously. "I see. But why her, if I may ask?"

Shiir-Kov responds with a sadistic smile. "Because if Jackal's truly infatuated with her, obtaining her will lead him right to us."

Realizing the idea of this plan, Xanth lets out a sadistic laugh. "Yes!"

TO BE CONTINUED


	3. Chapter 3

**Enter: The Jackal, Chapter 3**

By Kevin Jackson

1:22am, Saturday morning. The Titans have brought Jackal back to Titans Tower to recuperate, and plan for the next course of action in this situation involving the Necronomicon. They all sit at the den table to talk about what's going on. Raven brings Jackal a cup of herbal tea, setting it in front of him as she cannot help but wonder why Jackal chose not to harm her.

"Thank you", says Jackal as he lifts the teacup to his lips for a drink.

Robin sits across from Jackal, intent on speaking with him as if they are part of a discussion panel. "So tell us, Jackal", he says. "What's the story on this thing that was stolen?"

Jackal sets down cup with a sigh. "...It's a book...called the Necronomicon."

Beast Boy scratches his head. "Nikker…nummi…corn??", he says confusedly.

Cyborg shakes his head at Beast Boy. "No, dude. Necronomicon", he says.

"Right", says Beast Boy as he nods in response. "That's what I said: Nikkernummicorn."

"NE-CRO-NO-MI-CON!", says an annoyed Cyborg.

Beast Boy tries again while scratching his head. "Ok. Ne...kker...what??"

Cyborg, now aggravated, stops Beast Boy. "Tell ya what. How bout we just call it "the good book"?"

Beast Boy blinks in confusion. "But I thought the Bible was the good book", he says.

"Fine!", yells Cyborg. "The Bible's the good book, ok?!"

"Right", Beast Boy responds, "so what book are WE talking about?"

"The NECRONOMICON!", yells Cyborg in rage.

Beast Boy scratches head once more. "...Nikkernummi-what??" As a result, the other Titans fall over animé-style.

Robin gets back to his feet. "Beast Boy, that's enough", he sighs.

Jackal continues with his story. "Anyway, the Necronomicon is the ancient book of the dead. It contains scriptures and rituals used for a variety of things, from raising the dead to opening the gates of the underworld.

Robin scratches his chin. "And judging by what we've seen so far, we're faced with someone who wants to do just that. But who would do something like this?"

"Perhaps Slade?", asks Starfire.

Robin shakes his head. "Nah. I doubt it", he says. "I'm sure he learned his lesson after dealing with Trigon."

"Trigon?", asks Jackal. "Who is Trig-?"

Cyborg cuts him off. "Trust me! You don't wanna know! Raven, don't tell him! Ya shouldn't have told us, but ya did! Anyway, bottom line: YOU DON'T WANNA KNOW!"

Jackal blinks with an animé-style sweatdrop on his forehead. "Forget I asked."

"Anyway", says Beast Boy, "what's the deal with those robot dudes that just handed our butts to us? They gotta be workin' for somebody, right?"

Jackal nods. "They do. They are minions to a powerful sorcerer known by the name of Lord Xanth."

"Xanth?", asks Robin. "I don't think I've heard that name before. Is he another one of those major criminal masterminds?"

Jackal shakes his head at Robin. "Not really. You might not have heard of him because he likes to keep himself and his operations underground. He's not a petty thief, like most of the villains you've probably dealt with. He's a powerful sorcerer whose only life goal is to become an omnipotent force on the planet. He uses an array of spells for purposes including forcefields, shockwaves, teleportation, and his most dangerous spell - power neutralization.

"Neutralization?", asks Robin. "As in depleting somebody's powers?"

Jackal nods. "Pretty much. This Neutrabeam, as he calls it, can deplete its target's energy and powers for a certain amount of time, depending on how long he holds his victim in the beam."

"Wow", says Beast Boy. "Yeah, he's definitely not from around here."

Cyborg cannot help but ask the question. "So let me get this straight. We're dealing with a sorcerer who has a whole lot of freaky power, can neutralized powers, and wants total domination. I already don't like him, but how's he supposed to be taking over the entire world??"

"Well", says Jackal, "as I stated earlier, the Necronomicon can be used to open the gates of the underworld. With this ritual, he plans to summon forth a powerful demonic hellspawn by the name of Shiir-Kov.

"Shiir-Kov?", asks Robin.

Jackal continues his story with a near angered look on his face. "He is a powerful hellspawn demon whose sole purpose is to dominate the Earth and the universe. To my knowledge, his power is unmatched. As is, I am barely a match for him, and his power makes Xanth look like a butterfly."

An animé-like sweatdropflows down Beast Boy's face. "Wow. That powerful, huh?", says a near frightened Beast Boy.

"Shiir-Kov is a true incarnate of pure evil", says Jackal, "which suits his location of origin. If Xanth were to be successful in this ritual, I'm not sure if I would ever be able to defeat Shiir-Kov."

Starfire steps up to him, placing her hand on his shoulder. "You do not have to fight him alone. We will assist you."

Beast Boy smiles. "Yeah, we can handle anyone, especially after facing off against Tri-"

Cyborg quickly covers Beast Boy's mouth. "Uh uh, BB. Let's never speak of that again, ok?"

Jackal calmly turns them down, not wanting to see them be harmed for his sake. "Please, you don't have to concern yourselves. This is _my_ problem. As a demon hunter, it's my duty to combat and defeat threats of this nature. I'm the one they'll want in the end anyway. I don't want to drag anyone else into this battle."

Robin gives a comforting smile. "Don't worry. It's our duty to keep the world safe anyway, so we're happy to help."

Beast Boy stands with a sign of confidence. "Yeah! Besides, we can't just let some crazy nut try to take over OUR world without going through us first, no matter if it's an interdimensional demon or a midget with a butcher knife!"

Astounded by their enthusiasm, he hesitantly nods. …Thank you.

Robin interjects. "Just one other thing, Jackal. From what we just saw, and from what you just told us, it seems like these guys spend a lot of time and energy just to take you down." Robin curiously folds his arms while pondering his thoughts. "So,…I hope you don't mind me asking but,…what's your connection to all of this?"

"Yes", adds Starfire, as she is also very curious. "Why are Mr. Xanth and the Shiir-Kov demon so interested in you?"

Jackal looks down at the floor, worried about their possible reaction to his answer. "Well,...I don't think you'll find the reason to be very comforting."

Beast Boy practically brushes off Jackal's response. "Oh pssh, We can deal with it. So spit it out, already. What's the deal?"

Jackal hesitantly breaks his silence. "…Shiir-Kov is my father."

The Titans' eyes practically pop out in shock as they all yell, "WHAT?!?!"

*COMMERCIAL*

Two teenage African-American boys are standing in the middle of a basketball court caged off by a steel fence. A large crowd is surrounding the fence. Apparently, the boys are in a mama joke competition with a large audience cheering each one on.

The taller and thinner of the two, Darnell, gives his joke. "Yo mama so fat, she's on BOTH sides of the family!" He gets a loud reaction from the crowd.

Donald, the shorter and heavier of the two, makes his comeback. "Yo mama so dumb, she got offered Raising Cane's when she was hungry and said 'No thanks'."

Darnell is speechless, as is most of the crowd at this point. "Aw, why you had to go there, man?"

A narrator's voice is heard. "Popeye's. ...Yeah, it's that good."

*BACK TO THE SHOW*

Beast Boy walks paces around, disturbed at what Jackal has told them. "Alright alright, so you mean to tell us that this Sheer-Coffee, er, whatever his name is, is your dad, and he's a hellspawn?"

Jackal nods. "Correct", he says.

Beast boy continues on. "So that means that...YOU'RE hellspawn?? I don't get it."

"You mean you never noticed?", says Jackal with a raised eyebrow.

Beast Boy stops and looks on with confusion. "Noticed what??"

Jackal's eyes glow red and he lets out a loud demonic roar, almost making it appear as if he's gonna lunge out at Beast Boy. While the rest of the team is startled from the surprise, Beast Boy screams like a little girl and leaps into Starfire's arms, cradles into the fetal position.

Cyborg starts sweating. "Dude..."

Jackal's eyes stop glowing as he relaxes himself. "Forgive me,...but it's true. I am a hellspawn. The true extent of my power is unknown, but I have been known to go ballistic and frenzy when I get really mad. It's a rare occasion, but it has happened." Raven has a look of disbelief and sympathy on her face, knowing that Jackal's descriptions to this point are all similar to herself. She listens on to his story. "I'm only half-hellspawn, though", says Jackal. "The other half of my bloodline is from my human Earth mother."

Starfire has a warm smile on her face. "Really?", she says as she forces Beast Boy off of her. "Please, do tell us more about her. What is she like?"

Jackal looks down at the table, growling under his breathe. "…I'd rather not discuss it right now."

Starfire covers her mouth as she lightly gasps. "Oh. I am sorry", she says. "I did not realize it was a sensitive issue."

Jackal shakes his head. "Don't be sorry. It's an issue that I….can't freely talk about."

"Well then", adds Robin, "let's get off the topic and back to this ritual. What else does Xanth need at this point?"

Jackal thinks for a moment. "...To my knowledge, all that's left is 'the blood of an untainted maiden'. Only then will he have all the tools he needs."

"Untainted maiden?", asks Robin. "Where would he find someone like that?"

Jackal sighs a disappointing answer. "I don't know, but I have to be on the lookout in case his minions show up again, because this could lead to an innocent being hurt for their cause."

Beast Boy raises his hand. "Ok, I have a question. Now…what's an untainted maiden??"

Cyborg answers, "Know any girls who haven't been with a guy? Basically, they are considered untainted."

Beast Boy snaps his finger. "Ooohhhh, I get it! So that must mean that Raven is-" Raven has an animé-like reaction, appearing three times her size with lightning in the background and her angry flaming eyes are pointed directly at a scared Beast Boy, who is shedding drops of sweat like a rainforest. "Uuuhhh, the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world??", he says as he starts slowly inching behind Cyborg. "Heheheheheh."

Jackal raises an eyebrow at the display. Cyborg says, "Oh don't worry. They're like this everyday. It's how they get along."

"Oh", says Jackal.

Robin stands and looks at Jackal. "Well you're welcome to stay here, at least until we can help you get this situation under control. If you need anything at all, just let one of us know."

Jackal nods. "I will", he says. "Thank you."

It's now hours later, the time being 3:54am. Raven's tossing and turning in her sleep, constantly getting images of the impending threat from Shiir-Kov, and continuously thinking about Jackal and the beast within him. She jumps out of her sleep, breathing hard and sweating profusely. After wiping the sweat from her face, she looks out her window to see the moon at peak in the sky. She crawls out of bed, puts on her boots and cloak and makes her way to the roof of Titans Tower, where she unofficially claimed as a "thinking spot". When she gets through the rooftop door, a kick of cold wind hits her and she starts to shiver a little. Just then, she sees Jackal sitting Indian-style near the roof's edge. She walks over to see him.

Jackal's eyes closed in meditation. Just as Raven gets behind him, he speaks. "What're you doing up?"

Raven pauses in surprise that he knew she was there, then continues to step next to him. "I can ask you the same thing", she says.

Jackal opens eyes, looking out into the city. "I don't sleep much. Too much on my mind."

"That makes two of us", says Raven as she sits beside him in Indian-style. She wraps herself in her cloak, still slightly shivering from the cold breeze. "Aren't you cold?"

Jackal shakes his head. "I don't get cold. One of my abilities is to generate heat into whatever I want, including myself. When the weather gets like this, I keep my body temperature high enough so that I don't freeze."

Raven has a slight look of disbelief. "I see", she says before going into a moment of silence. She looks out into the city, as if trying to figure out what to say to him. "…I'm Raven."

Jackal looks over at her. "Hm. Raven, huh?"

Raven sighs. "Sorry. ...Never got to introduce myself."

"Don't apologize", says Jackal with a sigh as he looks back out into the city. "It's not your fault. It's just been one of those days."

Raven nestles herself tighter into her cloak. "Tell me about it."

Jackal ponders something to say while looking out into the city. "...Let me to ask you something. ...Why are you guys helping me? I mean, everyone knows what the Teen Titans are all about, but it wasn't even a half-day ago when you all attacked me, assuming I was a criminal. And now you're helping me. My father's no pushover, and yet you all are still willing to fight at my side. ...Why?"

Raven sighs. "...Well as much as I hate to admit it, I agree with Beast Boy. The Titans wouldn't just stand idly by while someone's preparing to overrun our world, and attacking you was a big misunderstanding. ...It's water under the bridge anyway, but we defend the world at all costs, including taking on this Shiir-Kov."

Jackal listens to her words as he closes his eyes and ponders over those words, still amazed at the enthusiasm being shown. "I appreciate it, but...Shiir-Kov is very dangerous. I don't want you getting hurt."

Raven shakes her head. "The last thing the Titans worry about is getting hurt", she says, "so don't concern yourself about us. We can-"

Jackal cuts her off. "I'm not concerned about the Titans getting hurt." He looks over at her. "...I don't want YOU to get hurt."

Raven lightly gasps and looks up at him wide-eyed, also remembering what he did to protect her from the falling wall hours earlier. She looks away for a few moments, then turns toward him. "Jackal, listen. I-" She stops as she realizes that she subconsciously placed her hand on his. She pulls it away and turns from him again, this time blushing lightly while slightly looking annoyed.

Jackal looks down at his hand, then back at her. "What's wrong?", he says.

Raven maintains her posture while avoiding eye contact. "…Nothing." She stands back up as she turns around to leave. "I should go." She wraps herself in her cloak before she would leave.

Jackal grabs her cloak to stop her. "Wait.", he says.

Raven stops and turns back around, wondering what is on Jackal's mind. Jackal positions his hands around her ankles, then his hands glow a light red. He slowly eases his hands up her body, from her feet to her neck, heating her blood with his power. She gasps lightly when she starts to feel a tingly heated sensation in her blood, lightly moaning under her breathe with her eyes closed as he works his magic.

"W-w-what're you doing?", Raven stutters.

"I'm heating your blood", Jackal says. "I know it feels funny, but this is the same effect I use on myself when it gets cold. It takes some getting used to, I know. ...There", he says as he finishes. "That should keep you warm for the rest of the night."

Raven opens her eyes and unwraps her body from her cloak. "…It….feels good", she says as she feels much warmer, even in the cool wind. "…Thanks."

Jackal nods. "No problem."

As Raven turns to walk back to the doorway, Jackal turns back to his meditation. Raven stops at the doorway and somewhat peeks back at him with a light smile on her face. When she turns back to open the door, her hand is grabbed by one of the masked minions, then she's grabbed by two more minions. One of them covers her mouth as she tries to scream, but Jackal catches the sound and immediately turns around. He roars as he hurls a fireball straight into the head of a minion holding her arm. Once free, Raven uses her powers to propel the other two off of her. Jackal rushes up to her.

"Are you alright?", says Jackal as he intently checks to see if she was hurt.

Raven yells out, "Look out!"

Raven waves her hand and slices an advancing minion in half with her powers, destroying it before it could attack Jackal. At that point, they are surrounded by a legion of minions. Jackal takes a defensive stance while Raven turns over her hood in preparation. They both attack their opponents, Jackal taking each of his half down one by one with his powerful strikes, and Raven demolishing numerous minions at a time with a simple wave of her hand. After cleaning off a large number of minions, Raven is suddenly shot and held in place by a bright yellow beam, making her scream in pain.

Jackal turns immediately. "RAVEN!", he yells as he runs to her. Suddenly, he himself is stopped in his tracks by another yellow beam, causing him to roar in pain as well.

Xanth levitates down onto the roof, holding both Raven and Jackal with the yellow beams being shot from his hands. "Easy there, children", he says with a smirk. "No need for roughhousing."

Jackal struggles to get to his feet as he guages Xanth's presense. "Ungh. ...XANTH!!!"

The shockwave from Xanth's beams sets off an alarm in Titans Tower, waking up each of the sleeping Titans. They each get ready to respond to the alarm.

"Let's make this quick", says Xanth as he releases his beam from Raven. He continues to hold Jackal in his attack. "You be a good boy and stay right there while my Neutrabeam dissolves your powers."

Raven sees Jackal trying to move, but to no avail. She turns to Xanth angrily. "So you're Xanth!"

"That I am", Xanth replies.

Raven wastes no time. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!!", she yells as she waves out her hands, but nothing happens. She gasps. "My powers."

"Hm. Nice try", says Xanth. "Hold her." Four of his minions immobilize Raven and rip open her sleeve over her inner upper left wrist. Xanth pulls out a needle with a one-inch-diameter syringe. "Now hold still", he says.

Raven struggles to get free. "Ungh! NO!!" She shrieks when the needle is jabbed into her upper wrist.

"There", says Xanth as he extracts her blood. "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" He pulls out the needle, completely filled with Raven's blood. "Now we have everything we need." He releases Jackal from his beam, letting his minions grab onto Jackal. "You'll be coming with us, Jackal." He smirks at Jackal. "Your father will be delighted to see you." He then turns to Raven. "As for you, my dear, your services are no longer required."

Xanth sends out a shockwave into the sky. It opens a vortex-like portal – almost like a black hole – which sucks in its victims to be transported to a random location. Xanth's minions release Raven, allowing the portal to suck her in.

Jackal ferociously fights off the minions that hold him down. "NOOO!", he yells as he leaps up after Raven* RAVEEEENNN!!!"

"No!", yells Xanth. "Get back here!!"

Xanth creates a razor-like dark energy discus measuring a foot in diameter – this is very similar to Kuririn's Destructo Disc on DragonBall Z – and hurls it up towards Jackal. The disc manages to slash at Jackal's right shoulder and Raven's left thigh, but the two still manage to lock hands and go into the portal together.

Xanth is now angered. "Blast!!" He turns to his minions. "After him! Do what you wish with the girl, but bring Jackal back ALIVE!!"

The minions leap into the vortex, which Xanth closes afterwards. Just before he closes it completely, the Titans reach to rooftop and bear witness to the last few seconds.

Robin looks up at the black hole just before it closes, then spots Xanth. "What's going on here?! Who are you?!"

Starfire observes Xanth. "He does not appear to be a hellspawn demon."

Beast Boy points at the syringe of blood. "Dude, he's got blood!"

Xanth smirks at the Titans. "You must be friends of Jackal and the girl in blue", he says as he hooks the syringe into his side. "So I finally make your acquaintences."

"Girl in blue?", asks Robin as he looks at the syringe. "Then that's gotta be her blood! What did you do with Raven and Jackal?!" Xanth's only response is maniacal laughter. This angers Robin to the point of violence. "Titans! GO!"

They all rush at Xanth, who just stands with his hands down at each side and his head dipped down to where his eyes are covered by his hood. Robin leaps in the air and hurls five blast caps at Xanth, exploding around Xanth and blanketing out smoke in the process. Cyborg and Starfire both fire their respective energy beams at Xanth, also exploding and creating more smoke. Beast Boy then turns into a lion and attempts to pounce on Xanth, but instead lands on top of the smoke, seemingly to have landed on something covering Xanth. Once the smoke cleared, Xanth is shown concentrating his power to create a forcefield around his body, which took the impact of everything that the Titans threw at him.

Xanth snickers. "Pathetic."

Xanth sends out a huge and powerful shockwave, propelling Beast Boy from his forcefield and plowing him into the rest of the Titans and laying them all out. Just then, Shiir-Kov's astral projection appears in front of Xanth.

"Xanth", Shiir-Kov says, "forget these delinquents. You must rest. You'll need all of your energy to perform the ritual."

Xanth nods. "Understood", he says as Shiir-Kov's projection disappears, then Xanth turns his attention to the Titans. "How disappointing it is to find that the legendary Teen Titans are so inferior that they can't put up a worthy fight. Jackal gives me a much better workout than this. I must say, though, you've all got spirit, but that will not even help you for what is to come." He turns and starts walking to the edge of the roof. "Until next time", he says as he walks into a small portal and disappears.

Beast Boy staggers to his feet. "What the heck was that?! What the heck just happened?!"

Starfire stands and immediately opens up her communicator. "Raven. Raven, can you hear me?" She hears nothing but static. "Raven, please answer." She only hears more static as she closes her communicator. "Why does she not respond?", she says as she turns to her teammates.

"Her signal must be scrambled", says Robin as he tries his own communicator.

Cyborg stands in aggravation. "This is just great! He's got the grail, the book, AND the blood! He's got everything he needs to bring that Shiir-Kov guy over, and who knows that he's done with Jackal and Raven!!"

Robin puts his communicator away. "Don't worry. We'll find them, and we'll start looking immediately. From what I just heard, it seems as though we have time before the ritual, but we can't spare any, either. Follow me."

Robin leads the crew back into the tower to begin planning a search and rescue mission for Raven and Jackal.

TO BE CONTINUED


	4. Chapter 4

**Enter: The Jackal, Part 4**

By Kevin Jackson

It's now 4:09am, Saturday morning. After being sucked into a giant vortex created by Lord Xanth, Raven and Jackal drop out of the opening and fall approximately 40ft. into the ground. Raven sits up, shaking off the daze, and looks around to find that they have been dropped into what appears to be a rainforest. Raven sits up and covers her left shoulder, which was slashed by the attack of Lord Xanth before they were sucked into the portal.

"Ungh...I'm gonna kill him", she says with a look of anger on her face. She starts turning towards Jackal. "You ok-" Her words are cut off by a surprising gasp as she notices Jackal's right thigh gashed open badly. "Your leg!", she says as she rushes to his side. As Jackal tenders his leg, she looks back up at the sky as Xanth's minions begin dropping out of the vortex. She tries to get Jackal up by putting his arm over her shoulder. "Jackal, c'mon! We gotta move!"

Jackal stands with her assistance. "You go", he says. "I'll....hold them off."

"No", Raven says. "You're injured! You can't fight like this! Not without your powers!"

"I'll live", he replies.

Raven sighs. "If I had a nickel. Now c'mon!"

The two finally start running in the opposite direction. Jackal is slowing down the pace because of his injured leg, but Raven keeps him moving. The minions start gathering in packs once they've all made it through the vortex, then the vortex closes. The minions begin combing the forests after Raven and Jackal. After a few moments of running, Jackal had realized that the minions were getting very close to them. He grabs Raven in his arm and, using mainly his good leg and the aid of a kunai, begins leaping off of tree trunks and climbing with the kunai until the two ended up in the top of a tall tree. Once there, they remained quiet until the minions had passed.

"How did you do that??", said Raven in amazement. "I thought you lost your powers."

"I don't have my demonic sorcery", he says, "...but I'm still a ninja."

"Hm. Good point", she replies.

They awaited at the top of the tree until they were certain the coast was clear. The two carefully scale back down the tree to the ground. Raven helps Jackal over to a fallen tree trunk, where she sits him down against the tree trunk.

Raven studies the gash in his leg. She tries not to waste any time. "We have to take care of your leg", she says. "I can rip a piece of my cloak for you to-"

"Don't", Jackal says. "...I need...firewood."

Raven looks at him somewhat confused. "Firewood??"

Jackal nods as he tenders his leg. Borrowing one of Jackal's kunai, Raven heads from tree to tree and cuts off branches and twigs to be used as firewood. She returns with a bundle in her arms and lays them out in front of the log they sat on. Jackal takes two hand-sized rocks and, with one crack, lights a spark that started a fire.

Raven is surprised. "Wow. It always takes Beast Boy thirty tries to light a fire that way."

Jackal tosses the rocks to the side, then speaks with periodic winces of pain. "I'm used to...being in the wilderness. My sensei taught me many ways to survive without depending...on my powers." He then rips open the cloth on this thigh, revealing the gash.

"What're you doing?", asks Raven.

Jackal winces again. "Well,...since I don't have my powers,...I have to do this manually."

"Manually??", she asks confusedly.

Jackal starts picking through the sticks in the fire. His breathing shows signs of nervousness, as if he is preparing for something harsh. "Raven,...do me a favor. I don't wanna give away our location, in case Xanth's minions are still in the area", he says as he picks up a flaming stick from the fire. "So please...try to keep me from screaming."

Raven gasps as Jackal is about to put the flaming twig into his wound, and immediately jumps to her feet and wraps her cloak around his mouth just before he sticks the twig in. The flame then ignites his wound and Jackal screams at the top of his lungs into the cloak, luckily silencing the sound of his pain. After a few moments of screaming into Raven's cloak, Jackal finally calms down and she takes her cloak from his mouth. He then goes into a pouch on the back of his belt and pulls out a dressing and bandage, and wraps his wound up.

Raven face flows with sweatdrops, as if she too experienced that pain. "What...what did you just do??"

"Exactly...what my powers do", Jackal says while breathing hard. "I ignited my wound, which slows the bleeding. And if the wound's heated up, it'll heal faster."

"Really??", she asks.

"Have you ever noticed...that whenever you have a wound, it feels like it's getting a little warm as it heals? Your body naturally heats up the wound as it heals. My powers accelerate that heating process, allowing the wound to heal almost instantly. The only drawback...is that it really stings."

Raven has a slight snicker. "Hm. I see."

"Yours is just a scratch, so I'll need a little water", he says as he slowly stands to his feet. He turns and starts limping slightly. "I'll be back."

Raven starts going after him. "Wait a minute. Can you walk?"

Jackal looks back. "I'm fine", he says. "There's a river at the bottom of that cliff. I won't be long."

Jackal left and carefully climbed down a thirty-foot cliff down to a river, where he lightly wet another bandage and climbed back up to get to Raven. He wrapped Raven's wound with the soaked bandage.

"There", he says as he finishes wrapping her wound. "That should be fine in a short while."

Raven looks at her arm, shedding a very slight smile. "...Thank you."

Meanwhile, the other Titans are in flight in the T-Jet, currently searching every area they come across for signs of Raven and Jackal.

Beast Boy starts losing hope, and starts showing it. "Dudes, this is crazy! We don't even know where to begin looking!"

"We have to try", says Robin. "Cyborg, any luck?"

Cyborg tries to contact Raven by communicator, but to no avail. "Nothing", he says as he gets aggravated by the communicator. "I can't get a clear signal from her. You think she got shot into a different dimension?"

Robin shakes his head. "I doubt it. If that was the case, you wouldn't be able to get a signal at all. Are you able to track it?"

Cyborg sighs. "I wish", he says. "The signal's too weak. However, it's showing signs of getting stronger, but very slowly."

"Does that mean we can find her soon?", asks a worried Starfire.

"Right", Robin replies. "So we may as well head back to the tower and get a few hours of rest. We'll continue our search in the morning."

"Wait a sec, Robin", says Beast Boy. "What about that guy who wants Hell to break loose? Shouldn't we be looking for him, too?"

"We will", says Robin, "but we can't do anything if we're too tired to even walk. We need to rest. We'll continue at daybreak."

The Titans turn course back to Titans Tower to rest.

*COMMERCIAL*

Jon Lovitz sits on a classic-style chair. "Subway Dinner Theatre presents 'The Fight For Hunger'", he announces.

The scene opens to a girl working behind a Subway counter. Two men – Chinese twins, one bulky and one slim, but both muscular – walk up to the counter.

The twin Chinese men speak in unison, speaking as if they know minimal English. "Meatball marinaras, please."

The Subway worker holds up a single wrapped sandwich. "Sorry, but we only have one left", she says.

The twins both look at one another as if they were challenging one another, then they each step back and take individual fighting stances to the sound of an echoing gong. "HYAA!!!!", they yell.

The scene switches to Jon Lovitz, who is talking to a hidden bet taker, whose hand is on the screen taking a $100 bill from Jon. "Put me down for the large fellow", he whispers. As the man takes the money, Jon's attention is suddenly shot to the camera when he realizes it's shooting him again. "AND NOW FOR DINNER! Subway restaurants, with such mouth-watering delights, like the Italian BMT on fresh-baked gourmet bread, hot and fresh from the oven!" He is now seen with a Subway sandwich in his hand. "Subway! EAT FRESH!!"

*NOTE: Subway rocks. OK, back to the show*

Raven is seen sitting at the campfire, attempting to contact the Titans on her communicator with no luck. "I can't get a clear signal. I don't understand."

Jackal clenches himself, trying to keep warm. "Why do you bother with technology?", he says with an obvious annoyance to technology. "All it does is screw up on you."

"Well it's not like the communicator to have an unclear signal", she says. "Cyborg's GPS system is top of the line."

"That doesn't mean it can't get messed up", he debates. "Relying on technology will only make the situation worse. Once it fails, there's little you can do."

Raven puts the communicator away. "So I'm assuming you don't use tech equipment?"

Jackal shakes his head. "Never."

Raven just realizes he's clenching himself. "Are you…cold??", she asks.

Jackal somewhat growls under his breathe in annoyance. "This is aggravating", he says. "Without my powers, I can't keep myself warm. I'm really not used to this."

Raven looks at him as if she wants to help him. With some hesitattion, she steps over to him and sits down next to him, then opens her cloak while avoiding eye contact. "...C'mon."

Jackal looks at her confused. "What??"

"Use my body heat", she says. "I'm still warm from when you used your power on me earlier."

Jackal is almost shy of accepting her offer to get so close to him. It's…It's ok. I'll li-"

Raven cuts him off. "If you say 'I'll live' one more time, I'm gonna pop you. Now c'mon. You need to keep warm."

Though Jackal still nervously hesitates, he scoots closer to Raven as she wraps her cloak around the both of them. Jackal feels very comfortable sitting close to her, but not because of the body heat she's sharing. Both avoid eye contact with one another as they are slightly blushing.

"…Th...thanks", says Jackal.

"…I'm glad I could help", Raven replies.

A few moments of silence quiets the area before Jackal begins speaking again. "...We should start moving once the sun rises", he says. "Xanth and his minions will be active at that point."

"…How long does his beam effect last?", Raven asks.

Jackal thinks for a moment. "...Since he didn't hold you for very long, you should probably get your powers back sometime after sunrise."

Raven looks over at him. "What about you?"

Jackal looks down at the ground unsure. "…I don't know."

Raven looks down as if worried about Jackal's well-being. "...Then we need to stick together", she says. "There's no telling what may happen."

Jackal nods. Before he looks back up, his curiousity starts to take over, as he wants to learn more about Raven as well. "…Tell me something, Raven. I've been curious…about this…Trigon. Just...what _did_ happen? Who is he?

Raven looks back at Jackal. She sighs. "Well,…It's a long story."

"It's a long night.", says Jackal.

Raven reacts with a slight snicker, as if knowing he's proven her wrong. "…Ok, I'll tell you. But I would like to know more about you too, and about this Shiir-Kov."

Jackal nods. "Of course."

Raven sighs as she prepares for her story. "Well,…I was born in a place called Azarath…"

Meanwhile, the scene switches to Xanth's lair, where he has just placed a vile with Raven's blood on an alter, next to Hades' Grail and the Necronomicon. Xanth then steps over to his throne and sits, leaning his head onto the backrest of the throne and going to sleep. While drifting into slumber, he lets out a small smirk, as if satisfied that he will soon accomplish his plan of releasing Shiir-Kov. The scene switches back to Raven and Jackal.

Jackal isstill wrapped with Raven in her cloak as she finishes her story. "…I see. So you've dealt with much pain and suffering. …I'm sorry."

Raven shakes her head. "Don't be. …Now,…your turn."

Jackal sighs. "Well,…I was raised by a ninjutsu master by the name of Danzo Hazuki. Though he is my sensei, I consider him my father."

"And your mother?", Raven asks.

"…I…never knew my mother", he answers. "I am an orphan."

Raven's eyes open slightly. "An orphan??"

Jackal continues. "My mother…supposedly died at my birth. I've seen images of her in my dreams. It's as if I...know her already, but...without ever having met her." He pauses with a sigh. "...Hazuki-sensei would tell me stories about her, saying that she was his top pupil and was trained as a demon hunter. Her life was devoted to it. Sensei told me of one incident where Shiir-Kov attempted to gain power in the Earth realm, and my mother opposed him. She left for the battle, and returned…impregnated.

"Impregnated??", says a surprised Raven.

Jackal continues. " He found her battered and bruised, clothing ripped in many places. She complained of pains and stress within her body until, moments later, she gave birth to me right in front of the dojo. Sensei could tell that I was no ordinary child. He said that when I was born, I had a very feint baby growl like a newborn demon. According to him, my mother said it was Shiir-Kov's doing before she died.

Raven looks down at the ground as she listens to his story, not knowing what to say.

"Hazuki-sensei told me that...Shiir-Kov passed his intentions to my mother when she was with him. ...He wanted me to be his Earthly mercenary, to have a living breathing hellspawn walking among humanity to do his bidding. As a human/hellspawn hybrid, I can survive outside the voids of the underworld unharmed, but with very limited power compared to a full-fledged hellspawn. …I don't know what he did, or how, ...but Shiir-Kov killed my mother that day…and I won't forgive him for it."

Raven's eyes slightly tear up from the story. "…I'm sorry."

Jackal clenches his fist, trying to keep himself from tearing up.

"…So…in many ways,…we are a lot alike", she says as she looks over at him.

Jackal nods. "…Perhaps it's our similarities…that motivated me to want to protect you since I first saw you. I just…had that gut feeling that there was…something special about you."

Raven's slight blush returns. "…Seriously??"

Jackal continues looking down as he nods.

Raven looks at him, now blushing a bit more* "…No one's ever said anything like that to me."

Jackal looks at her. "...Then they must be fools", he says.

The two actually gaze into one another's eyes, and their lips slowly inch toward each other. Once they're a split second from actually kissing, they stop and look away from one another.

Jackal clears his throat. "Uhm...I'm sorry…I should stand guard, in case Xanth's minions come back." He stands up. "...You should get some sleep", he says as he starts walking away.

Raven sheds a single tear. "…Wait!"

Jackal stops and turns towards her. "What is it?", he asks.

Raven stands while avoiding eye contact, then speedily walks to him. She grabs his face, stands on her tiptoes, closes her eyes and gives him a passionate kiss. Jackal is caught off guard by the whole thing and his eyes show it, but he closes his eyes as well and holds Raven in his arms as he shares the kiss, apparently being the very first for the both of them. After their kiss, Raven's teary eyes gaze into Jackal's again.

"…Just...be careful", she says.

Jackal nods silently. Raven lets him go as the two part ways for the evening. Jackal scales into the trees in the same manner as before in order to get a bird's eye view of the area, while Raven walks back over to the campfire and lies down wrapped in her cloak to goes to sleep.

Jackal perched on a high tree branch, where he sat and viewed the area for over an hour. From time to time, he felt his lips with his fingertips, amazed by Raven's kiss, which ironically was also his very first kiss. After about an hour, when it was obviously quiet and clear, Jackal leaps back down to Raven, who he finds wrapped in her cloak asleep and lying near the dimming fire. He kneels next to her, gently stroking her hair over her face. He lightly smiles as he watches her sleep. He then stretches out with his arms crossed, still trying to keep warm, and goes to sleep. About twenty minutes later, Raven wakes up and finds Jackal asleep on the other side of the dimmed fire, clutching himself to keep warm in his sleep. Raven has a look of concern in her eyes.

Jackal's dream, which is a recurring dream, has him walking down a lonely paved road in a very misty area. A female figure is walking down the other direction on the road. Once Jackal got visual recognition, he notices that it is his deceased mother. She appears as a Japanese woman in her mid-20's, stands at 5' 5", wears a red ninja outfit with some black, brown hair draped back in a ponytail, and dark blue eyes. Her name is Hanako.

Jackal stands with a look of disbelief. "…Mother??", he says. "...Is it really you??"

"Yes, Jackal", says Hanako as she walks up to him. "I'm here."

"...Why'd you have to die?", he asks. "Why couldn't you stay with me? Why couldn't you fight with me?"

"I'm so very sorry", she says. "My life force was depleted after Shiir-Kov raped me and accelerated your birth."

Jackal is shocked. "What??"

Hanako continues. "I managed to escape his clutches and gave birth to you at Hazuki-sensei's dojo. Though I got to hold you in my arms as I died, my only regret is that I could not live to see you grow up and, even moreso, fight by your side."

Jackal starts tearing up. "But...but I need your help. He's…he's coming, and I don't think I can stop him."

"You can defeat him, Jackal," she says, "if you believe you can."

"But how??", asks Jackal. "Xanth can open the gates now, and I barely have the power to stop Xanth anymore. ...I don't think I can win this war, Mother."

Hanako steps up to him and places her hands on his shoulders. "Jackal, do you know why you were brought into this world? Do you know what your purpose is?"

"Oh sure", he says sarcastically. "To be Shiir-Kov's earthly mercenary and to carry out his bidding and destroy this world." He clenches his fist. "How could I forget what Hazuki-sensei told me?"

Hanako shakes her head. "No, Jackal. That was Shiir-Kov's purpose for you when you were born. Do you know your REAL purpose?"

Jackal looks up at her confused. "I don't understand."

Hanako explains. "You were brought into this world as my successor, to carry on my responsibilities as a demon hunter. You've been given a special gift. Hazuki-sensei gave you the same gifts and training as he gave me, and that has allowed me to fight a strong battle against the forces of darkness for so long. Through time, I've gotten stronger, and my powers have improved. You're at your time where you shall unlock new abilities, Jackal. You've learned to truly harness your demonic powers, which is good, but you must not rely on your hellspawn abilities, as you have realized recently when you lost those powers. However, you must remember that you've only been stripped of your demonic powers because they were your only active powers. The spells inherited from me are still harnessed inside of you. After all, a power cannot be taken away if it is not active."

Jackal looks at his hands. "…A hidden power??", he says.

Hanako gently grabs Jackal's head and shoulders and hugs him, holding him close to her heart. "You CAN win, Jackal. You must believe."

Jackal sheds tears and hugs her, nestling into his mother's chest like a young child. "...Mother."

"Remember,…you must believe", she says before the scene starts blurring away.

Jackal's dream dimmed away as he woke up, the bright sun shining down into his eyes. He's half sleep at this point and is still crying, under the impression that he's still hugging his mother. When he nestles into his "mother's chest" again, he finally realizes that he's awake.

Jackal's thoughts flow through his mind. "_...Just a dream. …Then where is my face buried??" _Jackalnotices that he's hugging and nestling into Raven's chest, who is also the one hugging and holding him close to her heart as she sleeps. The two are tucked under her cloak. "_WHAT THE?!?!", _he thinks as he turns completely red. "_W-W-WHAT AM I DOING WITH RAVEN UNDER HER CLOAK?! I gotta get outta here!" _He tries to slide away from Raven, but she moans in her sleep and tightens her grip. "_GEEZ!! SHE'S GOT A VICE GRIP!"_

Jackal lightly tickles Raven's side. She lightly giggles in her sleep and starts twisting around, eventually loosening her grip on Jackal. Once he found an opening, he slides away from her and hops to his feet, still with a blush-red face and feeling his face with his fingertips. Trying not to think about it, he starts pilfering around the woods for food and water.

Not too long after Jackal left, Raven wakes up and find that Jackal is not with her. When she woke up in the middle of the night, she purposely nestled herself with Jackal to keep him warm. When she stands, she can hear a single figure swooping around in the trees. She knows now that it's Jackal. About ten minutes later, Raven gets up and walks down to a river and removes her cloak and shoes. She's preparing to wade in the water to wash her face, hands, legs and feet. She's about to dip her bare foot into the water until Jackal drops down and jerks her away by her arm, startling her suddenly.

"Oh. Jackal", she says after a slight gasp. "You scared me."

"You don't wanna do that", he says.

Raven looks at the river. "Why not?"

Jackal explains. "I went around collecting fruit, fish and water. While I was out, I finally figured out where we are. Look at this." He pulls a small fruit from his sack.

Raven examines it. "What's this??"

"A camu camu fruit," he says, "a great source of vitamin c. It only grows in one place on the planet. And here's more proof." He pulls one of five plain-looking river fish from his sack.

Raven raises an eyebrow. "Ok, so it's a fish. What's the big deal?"

Jackal shakes his head. "It's not this fish. It's what ELSE is in the water. Watch."

He throws the catfish into the river and waits a few seconds. Then the catfish is bombarded by a school of vicious piranhas that rip it to shreds in less than six seconds.

Raven gasps at the sight. "Piranhas??"

Jackal nods. "Exactly."

Raven starts piecing it all together. "...But that means that…we're in—"

The scene quickly switches to the Titan Tower.

"The Amazon??", says Robin as he turns toward Cyborg.

Cyborg stands with Robin in front of the GPS monitor, showing a dimmed, but strengthening, signal from the Amazon. "Right", he says as he nods. "Raven's communicator's finally giving me a signal. It's not strong enough for me to home in on her exact location, but I do know that the source is somewhere in the Amazon."

Robin looks at the area of the map while scratching his chin. "That's good. At least we have a starting point. We'll get Beast Boy and Starfire and get down there in the jet ASAP. We should be able to find her soon."

The tower's alarm goes off. The map reveals its source pinpointed to a very large chapel on the other side of town. "Aw, now what?!", yells an annoyed Cyborg.

Starfire runs in with Beast Boy. "Friends!", she yells. "There is trouble! We must go!"

"And it couldn't be at a worse time!", Cyborg proclaims. "We finally got a lead on Raven and Jackal somewhere in the Amazon."

Beast Boy notices the map. "The Amazon, huh? I got it", he says as he opens his communicator and dials a contact.

Aqualad picks up. "Aqualad here."

"Yo, Aqua!", says Beast Boy. "It's Beast Boy!"

Aqualad replies. "Hey, B.B.! What's up?"

"Dude, I need a HUGE favor", says Beast Boy with a serious tone."

Aqualad listens. "Shoot."

Beast Boy asks, "...How fast can you and Titans East get to the Amazon?"

The scene switches to a large sanctuary, where Xanth stands in front of an alter with the Necronomicon in one hand, the grail with Raven's blood in his other hand and standing over a what resembles a large circular voodoo drawing of sand on the floor. He is surrounded by his minions.

"The time as come", Xanth says. "Here, we shall bring forth a new saviour to purify this world of all that is unworthy. In moments, our Lord Shiir-Kov shall be reborn. ...And now…let the ritual begin!" Just as he starts to chant the words, the Titans rush in.

"Not another word!!", yells Cyborg.

Beast Boy looks surprised. "Wow. He didn't say that to me for once."

Xanth turns towards the Titans. "Ah. You are just in time", he says. "The ritual is about to begin, and you have a front row seat."

Robin clenches his fists. "We're not here to watch you! We're here to STOP you!"

Xanth shakes his head at Robin as if disappointed. "Oh there is no stopping the ritual, as there is no stopping Lord Shiir-Kov! The realms shall be merged as the prophecy has revealed, and he shall rise and claim this world as his own! Those who do not pledge themselves to him shall be destroyed! I shall make you only one offer to join us, and he shall liberate you and purify your souls from the weakness you call humanity."

"Fat chance!", yells Beast Boy.

A large number of Xanth's minions drop down from the ceiling to join the ones that are already present. "Then…die.", says Xanth.

As the minions attack the Titans, Xanth begins chanting the ritual words from the Necronomicon. Meanwhile, back in the Amazon…

Raven is sitting by a fire with Jackal. She just finished eating some cooked fish on a stick. Before she puts the stick back down, she tries the camu camu fruit. "Hm. They almost taste like oranges", she says.

Jackal is eating cooked fish on a stick. He nods. "Mmhmm. The camu camu fruit has a citrus taste and is very nourishing. They've been used all over the world to make nutritional juices."

Raven sets down the stick as she sighs. "…Listen, Jackal. …About last night when I…kissed you…I hope I didn't offend you or anything."

Jackal puts his fish stick back into the ground as she shakes his head. "Not at all."

"I don't know what came over me", she says. "I...usually don't get so emotional like that."

Jackal shakes his head again. "Don't be so hard on yourself. Besides, I could tell in your eyes after you kissed me…that you enjoyed it."

Raven snorts under her breathe as she raises an eyebrow. "What??"

"Go ahead and say it", he says playfully. "You enjoyed it."

Raven crosses her arms and looks away, hiding any emotions. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Jackal has a slight smirk. "Oh I can get you to say it." He hops over and tickles her side.

Raven yelps a surprised giggle and quickly covers herself. "Hey!"

Jackal's smile stretches. "Yep, found out your weakness this morning. So are you gonna say it, or will I have to make you?"

He starts tickling Raven's sides and underarms as she starts rolling around on the ground laughing and trying to get away. Jackal eventually gets a hold of Raven's legs, pulls off her boots and starts tickling her feet, sending her into spasms of laughter. Raven tries to fight him off, but doesn't really try hard enough, as a part of her is actually enjoying it. As Jackal is enjoying his playful torture on Raven, he looks up in the sky in awe and immediately stops the torture and drops Raven's feet.

Raven squirms away from him while recomposing herself, still getting all her laughs out. "If you do that again, I'm gonna-" She suddenly notices Jackal's expression. "What's wrong?"

Jackal's expression does not change as he stares into the sky. "…The sky."

Raven looks up and sees the sky turning blood red and swirling with dark clouds. She gasps. "What?? What's going on?!"

"…It has begun", Jackal says.

At that moment, while the Titans are still trying to fight off Xanth's minions to reach him, Xanth has completed reciting the Egyptian text from the Necronomicon and has activated the ritual. Xanth then steps up to the circle and pours Raven's blood onto the circle while chanting the prophecy.

"_'In this world, there comes a savior," _he chants, _"...a savior from the depths of the flame-filled realm. The all-powerful entity who claims his wish and purifies those that follow…_'"

"NO!", yells Robin as he tries to fight off the hordes of minions. "WE HAVE TO STOP HIM!!!"

After pouring the blood, Xanth stands and steps back. "_Let it be known,"_ he chants, _"…on this day….the wicked shall be forgiven…their souls shall have everlasting purification…THE GATES SHALL OPEN…AND HE WILL RISE!!!_"

The circle starts glowing and a flash of light shines out and into the sky, causing a sonic boom effect that levels much of the surrounding area. At that moment, natural hellspawns (appearing as dark-skinned man-beast figures with teeth, claws, shoulder-length free-flow hair, red eyes and a deep beastly growl) emerge from the portal in the light, followed by a dark-skinned man (black beard, appearing to be in his mid-40s, wearing blood-red ceremonial-like robes and boots with a hooded cloak). His eyes are human-like, but seem to have more evil in them than the hellspawns he commands. This man is Shiir-Kov.

Jackal knows by instinct what is happening. "…He's here", he says.

As the Titans look on in awe, Shiir-Kov takes a deep relaxing breathe as he smiles. He speaks with a very deep and evil voice. "Yes, my children", he says calmly. "…Hell is upon you."

TO BE CONTINUED


	5. Chapter 5

**Enter: The Jackal, Part 5**

By Kevin Jackson

It's now Saturday morning, 10:31am, but the setting is far from sunny and relaxing. At a large church and cathedral, Xanth has succeeded in opening the gates of the underworld, and Shiir-Kov has crossed over with an army of pure hellspawns at his command. The Titans look on in awe at the sight of Shiir-Kov, who almost reminds them of Trigon.

"THAT'S…SHIIR-KOV??", says Cyborg in extreme awe.

Beast Boy nearly freaks out. "Dude, it's like Slade and Trigon fused together or something!", he yells.

"Impotent fools!", yells Xanth. "You will greet Lord Shiir-Kov with the proper respect, or your bodies shall be incinerated by—"

Shiir-Kov puts his hand out in front of Xanth to silence him. "Easy there, Xanth", he says calmly. "No need to be testy over these human children. They seem rather comical, do they not?"

"You won't succeed", Robin says. "We'll stop you and send you back to where you came from."

Shiir-Kov snickers. "Oh, I highly doubt that", he replies. "But hey, it's good to think positive, right? Is that what you humans say? I'm sure it is, because it shows nothing but weakness", he says as Robin grows more frustrated. "Putting thoughts into your head that you can possibly get something done does no good, young one. You must declare it. You must claim it. Only then will your objectives be met. And my objective is clear: claiming this world and this realm as my own, and destroying those who oppose me. So it was declared, so shall it be."

Now frustrated, Robin rushes in for the attack, ignoring the hectic pleas of his teammates. He leaps into the air, pulling six of his blast caps from his belt and hurling them at Shiir-Kov, who calmly shuts his eyes and stands perfectly still as the projectiles explode all around him and create a dust buildup in the process. Robin lands back on his feet and looks on after his attack.

"Declare that!", Robin yells. After a few seconds, the dust cleared and Shiir-Kov was gone. His maniacal snickering is heard echoing throughout the cathedral. "What?!", says a shocked Robin.

Starfire gasps. "He is gone??", she says.

The team looks around the cathedral in confusion. "Y-y…..you gotta be kidding me!", says Robin.

Shiir-Kov's voice echoes throughout the room. "I kid you not, boy", he says before reappearing to Robin's left. "Nice try, though."

Just as Robin looked to his left, Shiir-Kov extended a strong punch that sent Robin flying across the cathedral and slamming into a wall. The other Titans ran to Robin's aid.

"ROBIN!!", shrieks Starfire. "Are you alright?!"

Beast Boy looks back at Shiir-Kov in awe. "Dude, he hits hard!", he says.

Starfire's eyes green over. "Unforgivable", she says as she turns to Shiir-Kov. "NO ONE HARMS MY FRIENDS!!!" She flies toward Shiir-Kov at top speed.

Cyborg yells at her. "STARFIRE, WAIT!!"

Ignoring Cyborg, Starfire flies at Shiir-Kov as fast as she could, reaching him in less than half a second, and throws a power-charged punch at him. He side-steps away from the punch as fast as she threw it, then backhands her in her back, using her own momentum to send her flying through a wall.

"STARFIRE!!", yells a worried Cyborg.

Shiir-Kov turns to Cyborg and Beast Boy. "Now then, which of you insects will amuse me now?"

Beast Boy looks slightly scared and is hesitant. "…Go ahead, Cyborg", he says while patting Cyborg on the back.

"ME?! You do it!", Cyborg replies.

"Dude, you got guns!", Beast Boy replies.

Cyborg answers, "Well you can change into whatever, so you're more unpredictable!"

Beast Boy somewhat cringes. "Yeah, but I'm fragile!"

Cyborg puts his hands up to try and come to a solution. "Ok ok ok, tell ya what. …RPS for it [Rock-Paper-Scissors]."

"Fine.", says Beast Boy as he puts his fist up. The two play a single round of Rock-Paper-Scissors. Cyborg wins with rock over scissors. Steam spouts from Beast Boy's ears. "Aw man!"

Not wasting any time, Beast Boy immediately rushes toward Shiir-Kov and transforms into a tyrannosaurus rex. He attempts to chomp down on Shiir-Kov, but his mouth was caught in Shiir-Kov's grasp. As his jaws are being held open, Beast Boy's power pushes Shiir-Kov across the floor, leaving a trailing print from Shiir-Kov's feet. Beast Boy struggles to lock in the bite, but can't fight Shiir-Kov's strength. At that moment, Shiir-Kov lifts Beast Boy off the ground by his jaw, swings him around, and hurls him upward into another wall, morphing Beast Boy back to his normal self before he hits the floor.

Cyborg gasps at the sight of his comrades easily dispatched of and almost loses hope, but he still fights. Cyborg runs toward Shiir-Kov while firing his sonic cannon. Each blast was dodged with a few deflected by Shiir-Kov's own energy charges. Once in melee range, Cyborg throws a punch, but Shiir-Kov dodges. At the same time, he grabs Cyborg by the neck and choke-slams him hard into the floor, cracking it in the process. He then lifts Cyborg up by his neck, places his other palm on Cyborg's chest, and conjures a fire blast that blows Cyborg into the wall near Robin. All the while, Xanth watches from the sidelines, entertained by the display.

Shiir-Kov claps at the Titans. "As futile as they are, I applaud your efforts", he says with glee. "You see, I am all-powerful." Shiir-Kov slowly walks to the center of the cathedral with his hands behind his back. "Xanth has reported to me last night that you all faced my son Jackal in combat and were defeated", he says as he snickers. "Ahh, that's my boy. I should warn you, though." He stops in the cathedral's center, his back turned toward the fallen Titans. "His power is merely a fraction of what I am capable of."

The team slowly regroups, each tendering their own injuries. "Man,…I'm starting to think he's right", Cyborg says with low confidence.

"Yeah!", Beast Boy replies. "We just got our butts kicked….and he BARELY MOVED!"

Starfire struggles to a knee as she speaks. "Ungh….Friends,…I fear we are fighting….a losing battle."

Robin is on all fours, trying to shake off his pain. He clenches his fist "No! We can't give up!", he says as he struggles to his feet. "The world is depending on us! ...Jackal and Raven are depending on us! We can't let him win! We've got to fight!"

Cyborg's face swims with anger and annoyance. "Robin, have you lost it?!", he yells. "You saw what happened to us when we fought Jackal, and you saw even worse when we attacked this guy! If we fight, we're as good as dead!"

"That's never stopped us before, Cyborg", Robin replies.

Steam spouts from Beast Boy's ears again. "…Aw man! I hate when he uses that against us!"

Robin steps out in front of the group, leering at Shiir-Kov as he prepares yet another motivational speech. "C'mon. The Titans East should be here with Jackal and Raven soon. Until then, we have to do our best to hold him off. I know it's not gonna be easy, but we still have to try, and I'm willing to give my life to defend our world."

Starfire nods, and stands. "…I have always stood by you, Robin", she says. "…And I shall stand by you today as well."

Beast Boy rises to his feet with a smirk. "Yeah, count me in!", he says.

Cyborg stands with a look of determination. "The Teen Titans stick together, no matter what."

Robin nods as the team prepares themselves. Cyborg clenches his fists, Starfire's eyes green over and her fists charge with her star bolt energy, and Beast Boy takes a knee and places one hand on the ground, as if ready to morph into an animal and immediately charge to Shiir-Kov. Robin reaches into his belt and pulls his bo staff, extending it to full length. Shiir-Kov then turns towards the Titans with a smirk on his face.

"TITANS, GO!!", yells Robin.

As Beast Boy immediately morphs into a cheetah, the Titans charge at Shiir-Kov, whose eyes glow red as he stands snickering and ready to take them on. Meanwhile,…

Raven walks through the forest with Jackal. She still tries to contact her team via communicator. "I'm starting to get a signal, but I still can't get a clear connection", she says.

Jackal blows off the communicator with disgust. "Forget that thing. We're on our own now."

Raven sighs. "The others could be in danger right now."

"Well right now, we need to stay on our guard", says Jackal. "I can feel the aura of the underworld, and I'm almost positive that Shiir-Kov will send his army after us."

"Army??", asks Raven.

Jackal nods. "Yes. …Pure hellspawns with all of my powers and strength. Since I have human blood, however, I am able to exist on the human plane. Hellspawns cannot survive in this world for very long unless the gates of the underworld were to be opened. If a pure hellspawn were to appear in this world without the gates opened, it would eventually turn into dust."

Raven ponders his world. "I see. So if we find a way to close the gates, they would all die?"

Jackal nods. "Or be pulled back into the underworld as they close. That's my guess, anyway." He hears a noise and halts the both of them. "Wait", he says as he listens. "…Did you hear that?"

Raven looks around. "…Hear what??"

Jackal's face molds into a battle face. "…It's here."

At that moment, a creature shoots up to a tree branch in a blur, then drops down to strike at Raven and Jackal. She looks up and gasps at the last second before Jackal shoves her out of the way of impact. Just when the creature came down, Jackal catches it by its neck while planting his foot to its chest, rolls back and throws it over his head and onto its back. The creature got back to its feet as Jackal handsprings back to his feet, then turned and took a defensive stance while pulling a kunai. It was that moment when Jackal realized that he was facing against a pure hellspawn.

The hellspawn appears to be a humanoid demon-like beast with sharp teeth and claws, blackish-silver fur and shoulder-length hair wildly draped over its solid black eyes. The hellspawn roars at Jackal ferociously.

Jackal yells ferociously at the beast, then pauses. "...Oh yeah, I can't do that anymore."

The hellspawn lunges at Jackal and the two engage in combat. While the creature's strength is immense, Jackal dodges what blows he's able to and lands numerous counter strikes, which mostly do nothing to phase the beast. He has to rely on his ninja agility and training to put up a fight. After a failed attack from the hellspawn, Jackal zips into the trees and leaps back down to attempt an overhead strike with his kunai. The creature, however, got wind of Jackal's position and hurled a giant fireball at him, sending Jackal flying hard into a tree trunk and almost knocking him out cold.

"Jackal!", yells Raven. She starts running towards Jackal, but gets cut off by the hellspawn. She tries her powers now that she's face-to-face with it. "_Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!!"_ She waves out her hands, but nothing happens. She gets frustrated. "Darnit!!"

The hellspawn attacks Raven as she tries frantically to get away from it. She falls over next to a log with a large and thick branch next to it, just large enough for her to be able to lift. When the hellspawn lunged forward, Raven picked up the branch and swung it across the hellspawn's face, dazing it a little. Raven gets back to her feet and manages to land two more face shots with the branch before the hellspawn blocks the strike with its forearm, which was tough enough to snap the branch in two. It then grabbed the remaining portion of the branch in Raven's arms and set it on fire, causing her to immediately drop it so that she wouldn't get burned.

In retaliation, the hellspawn lifts up a larger log in preparation to throw it at Raven. Just as it lifted the log over its head, Jackal leaps down from a tree branch and stomps the log down onto the hellspawn's head, causing it to drop the log and tender its head for a moment. Dropping in front of the hellspawn, Jackal takes advantage of that moment and drives his kunai deep into the hellspawn's lower abdomen. As it shouts in pain, Jackal dropkicks it hard onto its back, where it lays there shrieking in pain.

Jackal runs to Raven. "Are you alright?", he says as he helps her up.

Raven nods. "I'll be fine. My powers…are still-"

Jackal cuts her off. "Don't worry about it, as long as you're safe."

Raven starts to smile, but that half smile drops when she sees the hellspawn on the ground. "Wh….what's happening??"

The hellspawn pulls the kunai out of its stomach after much struggle, then places its hands around the wound as it moans in pain. The wound lights up and begins to close.

"Uh oh", says Jackal. "…It's healing. …We gotta move! C'mon!"

Jackal and Raven start to run in the opposite direction as the hellspawn completely heals and roars loudly. Jackal and Raven run for at least five minutes until they reach the edge of the Amazon River, where they can not run any further. They turn around to find that the hellspawn had already caught up to them without even breaking a sweat. After it leers at them, it roars into the sky loudly, echoing across the entire forest.

"This can't be good", Raven says. "What's it doing?"

Jackal starts looking around, hearing echoes of other roars around them. "…Calling for backup."

A look of surprise embodies in Raven's face. "What?!", she yells.

Five more hellspawns instantly appear and surround Jackal and Raven, cornering them at the Amazon River. They all engulf their arms in fire as they prepare to strike. Though Jackal and Raven seem to stand no chance of survival, they stand their ground.

Meanwhile at home, the Titans are still engaged in battle with Shiir-Kov, which is thus far a losing battle. The scene comes back to show the Titans blown away by Shiir-Kov's power. While the entire team hits the ground hard, Cyborg gets back to his feet and continues fighting. Knowing that his sonic blasts will do no good, he rushes toward Shiir-Kov while launching small heat-seeker rockets from his shoulders. They explode around Shiir-Kov, who leaps forward from the smoke without a scratch.

At that point, Cyborg attempts hand-to-hand combat again. He comes forward with a straight punch, but it's avoided when Shiir-Kov teleports away from it and behind Cyborg. Once Cyborg sees him again, he tried to swing around with a backfist strike. Shiir-Kov ducks it, swings his arm to sweep Cyborg off his legs and, before Cyborg would hit the ground, field-goal kicks him across the sanctuary to where his body hits the corner ceiling and Cyborg falls back to the floor.

In the form of an anaconda, Beast Boy wraps himself around Shiir-Kov and squeezes as hard as he could. With little struggle, Shiir-Kov teleports out of the constriction. Immediately, Beast Boy morphs into a rattlesnake and attempts a poisonous bite. Shiir-Kov catches Beast Boy by the head and neck, then throws him towards a wall. Morphing back into a human, Beast Boy plants on the wall and leaps off. Once airborne, he morphs into a brontosaurus and attempts to smash down on Shiir-Kov, who quickly avoids the collision. Immediately afterwards is a swing of Beast Boy's long powerful tail, which Shiir-Kov also leaps away from.

Wasting even less time, Beast Boy continues his attack by rushing up in the form of a giant gorilla and swinging his fists everywhere like a berserk beast. Seeing the obviously reckless form of fighting, Shiir-Kov merely avoids each blow with teleportations until Beast Boy loses sight of him. When Shiir-Kov reappears behind him, Beast Boy turns around and tried to smash him with a double-axe fist. Shiir-Kov blocks it overhead, deflects Beast Boy's arms away, and then hits him with a hard uppercut punch that sends Beast Boy high into the air and crashing into the floor.

Starfire is next, flying high in the air and sending out star bolt after star bolt to try and hit Shiir-Kov. Again, he avoids and deflects the projectiles. Once she loses her patience, she launched a huge collection of energy from her eyes. Shiir-Kov blocks the beam with his own energy from a single hand, then fires off an energy shockwave that reflects back into Starfire's eyes, blinding her for just a few seconds. He takes advantage of that and teleports again. When Starfire regains sight, she looks around to find that Shiir-Kov had disappeared. A split second after that, he reappears above Starfire's left while she was high in the air. When she finally realizes that he was there, he falls through with a punch to the jaw and sends her crashing into the floor so hard that the force of his punch made a crater just larger than Starfire's body. She was knocked unconscious.

"STARFIRE!!", yells Robin as he immediately gets up and runs to her. Shiir-Kov lands about twenty feet from them. "YOU MONSTER!!!", yells Robin as he turns towards Shiir-Kov.

Shiir-Kov crosses his arms. "Well now, was that a significant other in your life?" He snickers, then speaks sarcastically. "I'm sorry. Sometimes, I don't know my own strength."

Robin clenches his fist. "I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!! YOU'RE GOING BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM! I SWEAR IT!"

Shiir-Kov nods at the thought. "Ah, that positive thinking again. All I seem to hear from you is talk rather than action. You must not be too concerned about your companion there, who quite possibly may be dead by now.

In a fit of rage, Robin grabs his extended bo staff and rushes at Shiir-Kov. "I'LL SHOW YOU ACTION!!!!!"

Shiir-Kov's eyes red over as he roars at Robin.

Meanwhile, as Jackal and Raven are surrounded,…

Jackal stands in front of Raven to defend her. "Stay back.", he saya.

Raven looks at him. "Hm?? What're you-"

Jackal pulls two kunai. "I'll protect you with my life", he says as he takes a fighting stance. "I swear it."

Raven's eyes are filled with both fear and compassion, never knowing that there was someone who cared for Raven as much as Jackal did. As a hellspawn is about to rush and strike, a golden static bolt is shot from the direction of the Amazon River and knocks it down. Confused as to what happened, Raven and Jackal look behind them to find Bumblebee in midair over the river with Titans East gathered on the shore below her.

"Someone called for backup?", says Bumblebee with a smirk.

"Who on earth??", says Jackal with confusion.

A soft smile appears on Raven's face. "It's ok", she says. "…They're friends."

Bumblebee equips both stingers in each hand. "Alright! TITANS EAST, GO!!", she yells.

The Titans East make their attack. Speedy takes bullseye shots at the hellspawns, trapping two of them in a net that exploded from two of his arrows. Mas y Menos used their speed to double clothesline one of the hellspawns not once, but twice. Aqualad uses his telekinesis to communicate with the piranhas in the river, and then uses his sorcery to send a wave of water at all of the hellspawns. At the same time, the numerous piranhas in the river chomp at the hellspawns continuously, giving the Titans enough time to try and evacuate the area.

Aqualad goes back to the sub. "C'mon! Hop in!", he says.

Jackal hesitates on going with them. "Who are you people??", he asks.

"The ones who just saved your butt", Bumblebee answers. "Now let's just try to avoid death!"

They all gather into the sub and make their getaway in hyper drive. After they escape, the hellspawns regain their health and escape from their traps. They all stand and roar in the direction that the sub fled.

"Ok, does someone wanna tell me what those things were back there??", asks Aqualad.

"Hellspawns", says Raven. "They came here when the gates of the underworld were opened."

"Whoa whoa whoa, time out", says Bumblebee. "The underworld? As in fire pits and demons and all-around weirdness underworld?? You can't be serious."

Jackal nods. "I'm afraid so", he says. "The gates have been opened. It's only a matter of time before Shiir-Kov will be at full power and try to take over our world."

Speedy looks over at Jackal. "Shiir-Kov?", he says. "Isn't that the guy the other Titans are dealing with right now?"

"What?!", says Raven in shock.

Aqualad responds. "Yeah. Last time we checked, they were getting beaten pretty badly!"

Jackal clenches his fist. "We have to hurry, then", he says. "They need my help,…and I have a score to settle with Shiir-Kov."

"Por que??", says Mas y Menos.

Jackal looks at Mas y Menos with a raised eyebrow. "What??", he asks.

Bumblebee responds. "Don't mind them. They don't speak much English. What they're trying to ask is how are you connected in all this?"

Jackal sighs as he looks at Raven, who returns a _you'd better tell them_ look to Jackal. "Well…those things we just finished fighting…I'm one of them." As expected, his response is returned by looks of shock from Titans East. "…and Shiir-Kov…is my father."

"WHHAAATTTTT?!?!?!?!", yells Titans East in unison.

*COMMERCIAL*

A Geico Announcer speaks to the scene of a middle-aged Caucasian man standing with Gary Coleman. "Charles Hart is s real Geico customer, not a paid celebrity. So to help tell his story, we hired a celebrity."

"Three months ago," says Charles, " my car broke down and I had to get it to the shop."

Gary speaks. "Man, my ride busted on me! Had to get it fixed!"

Charles continues. "I called Geico thinking I was gonna get a long wait with no service."

Gary scratches his chin. "And I thought to myself: 'Watch out! I'm dealin' with The Gooch!'"

Charles continues with a smile. "Geico gave me immediate service, got me reimbursement for a rental, and fixed my girl up like new."

With a confused impression, Gary looks at Charles. "…Whatchou talkin' bout, Charles??"

The Geico Announcer finishes. "Geico. Real service, real savings.

*BACK TO THE SHOW*

Robin continues his fight with Shiir-Kov, which is a losing battle thus far. He does, however, impress Shiir-Kov with his agility and persistence. Whenever Robin was knocked down, or his attacks were dodged, he would come right back with more. Shiir-Kov attempts to strike with a flame-charged fist, but misses. Taking that to his advantage, Robin leaps forward and lands a punch to the face, them an elbow to the gut, then a swinging kick to the face, and finishes with a throwing bird shuriken into Shiir-Kov's leg, causing him to shriek in pain. Now enraged, Shiir-Kov merely turns around and elbows Robin in the middle of the head, knees him in the gut, then straight palms him from the middle of the sanctuary, crashing Robin into a far wall and nearly knocking him out cold. The Titans have all been beaten brutally at this point, and can barely stand back up.

Shiir-Kov grunts in pain. "Little maggot! No one has EVER shed my blood before, let alone manage to strike me!", he says as he pulls the shuriken from his leg. With some concentration, the wound starts to heal up. "Clearly, I underestimated this bird child."

Beast Boy struggles to simply sit up. "Dude…this…sucks", he says.

Robin is hurting the most right now, barely able to get himself to his knees. "We…can't…give…up", he mutters.

Xanth interrupts the show. "My lord," he says, "allow my army to deal with these pests. You must rest rather than waste your energy on these children."

Shiir-Kov stands straight up after tending to his leg. "Hmm…", he says as he nods. "Indeed, I have spent most of my energy traveling through the gates. Very well then, Xanth." Shiir-Kov turns and walks to a door in the back area of the sanctuary.

Xanth kneels. "What shall we do with them, my lord?", he asks.

Shiir-Kov stops. "…Do what you wish with these pests", he says. "But remember, if my son arrives, I shall deal with him myself." Shiir-Kov walks away.

Cyborg manages to get to his knees. "You're…kidding. He wasn't….even at full….power??"

Xanth snickers at the question. "Afraid not", he answers. "Much of his energy was expended as he tried to force through the gates. Consider yourselves lucky. He may have killed you by now if he were at full power."

Starfire stumbles back to her feet. "This…cannot be", she mutters.

Xanth laughs at them. "Not that it matters. My hellspawn army shall finish you all off now. Go!"

A swarm of eight hellspawns all summon demonic fire from the ground, which blow the Titans from their positions into the walls at unison.

Xanth's maniacal laughter echoes throughout the room as the Titans struggle back to their knees. "Isn't this amusing?", he says. "The illustrious Teen Titans kneeling down before their new lord and master. You know, you can end the torment right now and pledge yourselves to the almighty Lord Xanth."

Robin struggles to get back to his feet. "…Not a chance", he states with a look of determination.

Xanth smirks. "…So be it", he says as he turns and directs the army with a wave of his hand. "Finish them, if you please."

As the hellspawns rushed forward to finish off the Titans, four kunai and four shurikens connect to each of the hellspawns from above, hitting anywhere from the neck to the arms and chest. Confused, everyone looks up to find Jackal perched on the upper level of the sanctuary.

"Dude!!", yells Beast Boy in surprise.

Robin has a surprised smile. "Jackal! You're alright!"

Xanth is shocked with anger. "You!!", he yells. "Why won't you DIE?!"

Jackal's expression shows a look of determination. "Isn't this something, Xanth?", says Jackal. "Even without my powers, you still can't kill me."

Angered by the comment, Xanth quickly launches two razor light discuses at Jackal. He leaps over the canopy to avoid them, letting them tear the canopy apart. While still airborne, Jackal hurls a shuriken at the chain of a chandelier positioned over Xanth, causing it to fall from the ceiling. Xanth creates a forcefield to block the chandelier.

"Enough of this!", Xanth yells. "Seize him!!"

Jackal begins his battle with the hellspawns. He utilizes his kunai to the fullest extent, connecting random slashes and impalements. When two of the hellspawns rush in, Jackal ducks their blows and drives each of his kunai deep into their shoulders, then flips them down to their backs and continues fighting.

Raven runs into the sanctuary with a bag around her shoulder and runs up to the Titans. "Are you guys ok?", she says.

"Raven!", says a happy Starfire as she still tenders her injuries. "You're alright!"

Beast Boy sits up. "Ungh! Yeah, we missed you while we were getting our butts handed to us!", he says.

Robin breathes hard from the pain and exhaustion. "Where are….Titans East?", he asks.

"Dealing with the other hellspawns around the world", she says as she goes through the bag. "They had to call up the other Honorary Titans for help. Here. I got these from the tower." She pulls out a small bag of pills and hands one to each of them.

Beast Boy examines his pill. "What's this??"

Cyborg responds. "Oh. These are the experimental caplets that Robin and I were working on a while back. They're supposed to replenish some of the energy that the body expels. But these were only prototypes. I never made the final tests."

"Well…I guess this is the perfect time to find out", says Robin.

Each of the fallen Titans pop the pills and they regain a portion of their fighting energy as if they've gotten a good night's rest. They hop back to their feet with their energy regenerated and ready to fight.

Cyborg flexes. "Booyah! They work!"

Starfire stretches. "I feel like I can take on the whole army now", she says.

Beast Boy beats his chest. "Ooh yeah! Party time!", he yells as the Titans stand ready. You comin', Ray?"

Raven looks down at her hands. "…I can't", she mutters. "…My powers are gone."

"Gone??", asks Robin in shock. "But how did-"

"Nevermind me!", says Raven. "Just help Jackal!"

Beast Boy looks over and sees that Jackal is starting to get beaten badly. "Oh yeah, right."

The Titans jump in and fight alongside Jackal, taking on the hellspawns with ease now. Noticing their regained energy, Xanth casually leaves the area to allow them to fight their war. As the Titans were regaining a fighting chance, Robin jumps near Jackal.

Robin smirks. "Hey," he says, "if we get out of this alive,…I want to fight you again."

Jackal looks at Robin, then smirks as he nods. "Agreed."

Unfortunately for the Titans, the hellspawns that weren't knocked unconscious heal their injuries and continue the fight with more rage than before, and this was a continuous process for an extended period of time. After fifteen minutes of fighting, Jackal and the Titans were beginning to get worn out.

Beast Boy starts panting. "These guys just don't quit!", he says.

Jackal breathes hard, but keeps a fighting stance. "And neither should we", he says.

Robin nods. "My thoughts exactly", he replies.

They rush in to continue the fight, but are immediately knocked back by the flaming blows of the four hellspawns that remain in the fight. When Jackal and the Titans fall to their backs, one hellspawn rushes in to finish off Jackal. As a reflex, Jackal blocked his face and held out the palm of his hand as if to straight palm the hellspawn in the chest. When it hit, however, a bright light glowed from Jackal's palm that damaged the hellspawn over time to the point where it incinerated before their eyes.

Jackal looks at his hands, which are glowing a sky blue hue. "What??", he says in surprise.

Raven looks on in awe. "…Jackal??", she mutters.

Cyborg stops and looks back and forth at Jackal and the incinerated carcass. "Wait, what just happened??", he asks.

Robin looks at Jackal's hands. "It's like….a purification power", he says.

After looking at hands, Jackal looks back up. "…Mother", he says.

The three remaining hellspawns all attack Jackal in unison. Jackal dodges their blows to the best of his ability, and then lands numerous straight palms to their bodies, slowly incinerating them with the heavenly aura. He jumps with a rising uppercut to one of them, incinerating it after the impact. As another tries to rush and attack him, he straight palms it in the heart and incinerates it. Finally, before the last hellspawn rushs in, he pulls a kunai, charges it with the aura, and then hurls it into the hellspawn's heart, turning it to dust. A smile emits onto Raven's face as she looks at the exhausted Jackal. The other Titans cheer in celebration.

Starfire hops up and down in glee. "Victory!!", she yells.

"Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!", yells an excited Cyborg.

Beast Boy starts to run up to Jackal. "Yeah dude, that was aweso-" The Titans immediately freeze. "…Uh oh."

When the Titans stop in their tracks, Robin clenches his bo staff rightly. From seeing this, Jackal gets wind of why they stopped, his expression shifting from celebration to anger as he looks behind him to find Shiir-Kov standing ten feet behind with his arms crossed. A look of satisfaction lights up on Shiir-Kov's face.

"…After all these years," he says, "…we finally meet, my son."

Jackal turns towards Shiir-Kov and clenches his fists, silently leering at Shiir-Kov with a look of war in his eyes.

TO BE CONTINUED


	6. Chapter 6

**Enter: The Jackal, Part 6**

By Kevin Jackson

It's now Saturday morning, 11:24am. After years of patience and speculation, Shiir-Kov and Jackal finally meet face-to-face for the very first time. They've only heard stories and seen observations, but have never met in person until now.

"…A wise man once said: 'Everything comes to he who waits,'" says Shiir-Kov with a smirk. "…and I have waited so very long for this day to come."

"As have I", Jackal replies. "Ever since I was a child, I've trained and waited for the opportunity to rip your heart out."

Shiir-Kov's head tilts. "Aww, come now. Is that any way to speak to your own father?"

"As far as I'm concerned, you're no father of mine!", yells Jackal before he clenches his fists and looks down, eyes shadowed over by his hair. "You tortured my mother,…then raped and impregnated her. I was born through an accelerated birth not ten minutes after she escaped from you that day. …I was only thirty seconds old when she held me in her arms and looked into my eyes as she passed away! WHY? WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS TO ME?"

Shiir-Kov's expression turns serious as he speaks. "You were born to be my messiah, to walk among humans in this realm as an earth-born hellspawn. I wanted a warrior with all the powers of my hellspawns and none of their weaknesses. You would be engineered into the perfect general for my army of-"

Jackal cuts him off. "That's not the life I want! I only want to live in peace! I only want a family! I only want love! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW PAINFUL IT IS, KNOWING THAT YOUR MOTHER PASSED AWAY WHILE HOLDING YOU IN HER ARMS? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW IT MAKES ME FEEL, KNOWING THAT I WAS ONLY THIRTY SECONDS OLD AT HER DEATH?"

"Dude, that's messed up", mutters Beast Boy.

Starfire is teary-eyed. "How sad", she says, standing next to Raven, who wears an expression of concern on her face.

"…Yes…yes, I would imagine that it instills much anger into your heart", says Shiir-Kov before his face stretches a smirk* "Is that the case, Jackal? Are you drowning in anger?", he says with a snicker.

Cyborg is in awe. "This guy's insane."

Shiir-Kov continues with a smile. "That's just the attitude I'm looking for as a general over my army. Come, son. Join with me, and together, we can rule over this realm and you can experience power beyond your wildest dreams. Perhaps you can release that anger on our enemies. How about it? Like father, like son."

Jackal looks back up with an expression of anger. "…I'd rather join my mother."

Shiir-Kov engulfs hand in flames. "Then join her you shall."

Shiir-Kov releases a line of flames at Jackal, who uses his ninja reflexes to leap over the attack. Just as Shiir-Kov realized he jumped, Jackal comes down with a roundhouse kick to the face, then barrages Shiir-Kov with various attacks to his mid-section, then an upward somersault kick to the face before landing ten feet away on his feet. When Jackal looks up, he notices that Shiir-Kov took all of those attacks without moving from his spot. Shiir-Kov cracks his neck both ways and looks towards Jackal.

"Impressive", says Shiir-Kov.

"He wasn't even dazed by any of that?", says a confused Robin.

Jackal rushes forward to attack again, sending out punch after punch and kick after kick. Each attack is dodged by the continuous teleporting of Shiir-Kov. After countless attempts, Jackal slows down for a split second from exhaustion, only to have Shiir-Kov take advantage and punch him down to the ground hard. He then picks Jackal up by his hair and backhands him across the sanctuary, rolling across the floor and slamming into a wall.

Raven seems concerned. "Jackal!", she yells.

As the Titans look on in worry, Jackal shakes off the hit as he struggles back to a knee.

Shiir-Kov crosses arms and smirks at his son. "What's wrong, Jackal? Still mad about your mother?" He seems pleased with the reaction of Jackal looking up in rage. Shiir-Kov snickers as he teleports next to Jackal. "Better try harder, boy."

Slightly caught off guard, Jackal springs back up and attempts kicks at Shiir-Kov, first with a left roundhouse kick, then a right. Both were blocked by Shiir-Kov. Jackal jumps with a midair swinging kick, which Shiir-Kov uses a rising block to flip Jackal backwards onto his face. Just as Jackal landed, Shiir-Kov stomps down to crush him, but Jackal moves out of the way just before Shiir-Kov's boot cracked and crushed that section of the floor. After dodging, Jackal leaps back up with two straight kicks to Shiir-Kov's torso. Then, after landing back on his feet, Jackal throws a straight right punch. Shiir-Kov catches Jackal's fist and applies pressure. Jackal shrieks in pain and drops to his knees as his hand is being crushed.

"Dude!", yells Beast Boy!

With no hesitation, Starfire declares, "We must help him!"

Robin grabs his staff once again. "Titans, GO!"

Robin, Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy, in the form of a cheetah, all rush to help Jackal.

"Stay back!", shouts Shiir-Kov. He waves out his free hand and blows the four back with flame eruptions from the ground. They all slam into the ground further away from Shiir-Kov. "This is family business."

"No!", Raven yells as she runs to her fallen teammates. "Robin! Guys! Get up! Please!"

Shiir-Kov turns his attention back to Jackal, who still grieves from the pain of hisfather crushing his hand. "Does it hurt, Jackal? …Good." Shiir-Kov extends his hellspawn claws in his fingers to dig into Jackal's hand, causing him to scream in pain. "It's funny. You're suffering merely fuels me. I just love the sight of pain in my enemies. Pain is a lovely weapon, isn't it?"

Jackal responds, "You…don't know…anything…about pain…" He grabs Shiir-Kov's clenching hand with his free hand. "…until now."

With his bloody fist and his free hand, Jackal releases the heavenly aura onto Shiir-Kov's hand, which causes him to scream in pain louder than Jackal's shrieks. Not even a second later, Shiir-Kov pulls his hand away from Jackal's grasp and watches as it practically cooks his skin away. Raven gasps and the Titans rise up immediately the second they heard Shiir-Kov scream in pain.

"Wh-what happened?", says Robin.

Raven points to Jackal. "The aura."

A surprised Beast Boy says, "Dudes, check out his hand! It's fried!"

Shiir-Kov tries to tighten a fist on the injured hand, but it hurts each time he tries to move it. "This…cannot be! …Hanako?"

Jackal stands back up, his hands charged in the aura. "You're not the only one…who I inherited powers from."

Jackal rushes in and begins connecting strikes with his aura-charged fists and kicks, each burning Shiir-Kov's body as they connect. Shiir-Kov cannot defend himself from more attacks because it would put him into more pain as he tries to move. With very few attacks, Jackal has Shiir-Kov not far from death. The Titans cheer Jackal on as the tables suddenly turn in his favor.

"This one's for my friends!", says Jackal as he uppercuts Shiir-Kov. "This one's for me!" He jumps with a midair swinging aura-charged kick to the face. "And this,…" Jackal holds open is right palm and forms a large ball of purifying energy. He then yells angrily, "…THIS ONE'S FOR MY MOTHER!"

Jackal rushes forward and slams the energy ball into Shiir-Kov's chest. Upon collision, the ball expands to engulf Shiir-Kov's entire body in purifying energy that propels him hard into a far wall. Once the energy dissipated, Shiir-Kov is seen leaning against the wall with most of his skin burnt and within an inch of death. The Titans rejoice at the sight of Shiir-Kov's imminent defeat.

Jackal steps toward Shiir-Kov with a determined look in his eyes. "…You're not welcome here…This is my world, Shiir-Kov…GO BACK WHERE YOU BELONG!" Jackal throws out his hand to send a wave of purifying energy at Shiir-Kov to finish him, but the energy dissipates as soon as it leaves Jackal's fingers. He looks at his hands, confused. "What?"

Raven gasps. "The energy."

Beast Boy, also confused, says, "Uh,…what just happened?"

Jackal tries a few more times to send out the energy, but to no avail. At that moment, Shiir-Kov struggles to pull himself back to his feet, though still leaning against the wall, and concentrates all of his leftover energy to heal all of the inflicted burns on his body, which is apparently taking quite a while to accomplish since the attack took its toll on him.

Shiir-Kov lets out a weak snicker. "You know,…that hurt like hell."He looks on as Jackal is too puzzled and confused to even try to attack again. "Judging by your expression, you don't know the whole story as to how I defeated your mother on that fateful day. Well, I'll tell you."

Shiir-Kov tells the story, prompting a narrated flashback. "I first battled her, and that annoying Hazuki guy, on the Earth realm that day. The gates of Hell had not been completely merged over, so I was not at full strength. She commanded those same wretched powers that you just used, and she was an annoying little pest. Before I was able to do away with her, she got hold of the Necronomicon and used a spell to shut the gates, pulling myself and my army back through in the process. Her actions tempted me to retaliate, so I managed to grab her leg as I was pulled in. She dropped the book and was pulled in with me. Once there, she continued to battle my army. Those powers of hers proved to be a nuisance,…until she lost them."

"She….lost them?", asks Jackal.

Shiir-Kov continues. "You see, once in the depths of Hell, any powers of the Heavens are completely nullified." Shiir-Kov laughs as Jackal gasps at this information.

"No way!", says Robin in disbelief.

"And of course, my hellspawns beat her to a pulp right before I…" Shiir-Kov pauses as he smirks. "...Well, you know what happened next. After it was all said and done, her master Hazuki reopened the gates with the book and pulled her out. And according to you, she died soon after my accelerated birth spell."

Raven looks down at the ground. "So that's how it happened." An expression of anger populates Raven's face.

Shiir-Kov finally stands completely up, as his serious wounds have finally healed themselves, though his body is still a bit shaken. "You should already know that hellspawns like us are at full power if on our own turf. So you see, all I needed here was the time. Once the spell was cast, the gates were opened. Once the gates were opened, the two realms would slowly begin to merge as one. And once merged, this realm becomes a part of Hell, and my armies and I gain our full strength. Already, my hellspawns are all over the globe, seizing territories and destroying anyone who gets in their way." He opens a magical fire-framed window showing random areas of the globe. "See for yourselves."

Jackal and the Titans gasp at the sight of different locations consumed by darkness and fire. Eventually, they begin seeing clips of the Titans East and the Honorary Titans being defeated one-by-one at the hands of the full-powered hellspawns.

Cyborg looks on in awe. "This…can't be happening", he says.

Shiir-Kov closes the window. "So you see, as I've mentioned before, there is no defeating me and my armies. But let me guess. You're still hanging on to that useless gesture of keeping hope.

Jackal looks down while clenching his fists. "Enough", he mutters.

"You're still bent on trying your best to defeat me", says Shiir-Kov. "I've shown you the proof right before your eyes. Are you still foolish enough to challenge me?"

Jackal looks back up. "ENOUGH!", he shrieks as he rushes in for an attack.

Shiir-Kov side steps and knees Jackal hard in the gut, causing him to cough up blood. From there, Shiir-Kov begins his assault on Jackal by back fisting him hard in the face and sending him flying across the sanctuary no sooner before he teleports to meet Jackal over there. When Jackal finally gets to a knee, Shiir-Kov continues his assault, beating Jackal down to a bloody pulp while the Titans are too weak or powerless to try to help.

"Stop it!", Raven yells. "Please, stop!"

Raven's screams are useless as Shiir-Kov enjoys his attack on Jackal. It isn't too long before Jackal sustains enormous amounts of injuries and blood loss. After much punishment, Jackal is left lying on his back brutally beaten and a bloody mess. Shiir-Kov stands over him as he is dying.

As does the rest of the team, Robin struggles to get up, but their injuries are too great. "We…have to…help…"

Shiir-Kov kneels beside Jackal. "How does it feel…..to experience pain like those worthless humans you're so determined to protect? Is it worth it? Is it worth turning down all the power you could imagine? Now look at you, lying here within an inch of your life,…staring death in the face."

Raven is on her knees looking down, crying as the Titans have fallen and Jackal is dying. "…No…no…"

Shiir-Kov looks upon his dying son with a sigh. "You disappoint me, Jackal. I had always hoped you would be a splendid hellspawn and become strong enough to take over my legion and rule this world. Instead, you chose weaknesses and stupidity."

"…_Leave him alone…_", mutters an angry Raven.

Shiir-Kov stands and takes a few steps back. "You could have been stronger than this, son. You could have been invincible. But instead, you have chosen to die as a human." He stops at ten feet away from Jackal's body. "So you have chosen,...so shall you be." He holds out hand as it engulfs in flames, pointing it at Jackal. "Farewell, my son."

Shiir-Kov fires a powerful line of flames at Jackal, at which Raven screams, "NOOOOOOOO!"

As Raven screamed, her hands began to emit a dark aura and her eyes blackened over with energy. At that moment, a wall of dark energy shot up from the ground and protected Jackal from the flame blast. Caught off guard by this, Shiir-Kov looks over and sees Raven kneeling and engulfed in dark energy, concluding that she has regained her power.

Robin struggles to sit back up. "Ungh." He sees the commotion. "Raven?"

Shiir-Kov seems intrigued by the show of power from Raven. She screams once again, "Leave him ALONE!"

With the blink of an eye, Raven psychically shoots Shiir-Kov straight through a wall on the far end of the sanctuary. It was so fast and hard that it completely shattered the wall and the rubble came down on Shiir-Kov in the process. The other Titans are shocked from what they've just seen and from Raven's entire body being engulfed in a dark aura as she stands.

Beast Boy struggles to push himself to a knee. "Dude…what's happening?", he says.

Starfire is in awe at the sight of Raven. "I have not seen Raven like this...since Trigon."

Raven looks back at the Titans. Her eyes glow as her teammates are engulfed in energy for a few seconds, then all of their wounds and injuries are instantly healed.

Cyborg looks at his body. "Hey, I'm repaired!", he says with a surprise.

"I can heal your injuries, but I cannot replenish your energy", Raven says in a wavy voice. "You must find those pills, and fast." As the others look around for the pills, she levitates to Jackal's side and kneels down. "Jackal?" He is laid out, eyes closed, not responding. She picks his head up." Jackal! Jackal, answer me! Jackal!"

Jackal slowly regains consciousness and opens his eyes, looking towards Raven. He mutters with the sound of death in his voice, "…Ra…ven."

Raven breathes a slight sigh of relief as she lays his head back down. "I can heal you, but I need you to stay with me, ok?", she says as she prepares to cast her spell.

Just as Raven prepared to cast, Jackal gives a week gasp and looks behind Raven. Shiir-Kov emerges from the rubble bloody and bruised. Shiir-Kov charges straight at Raven, who gets an expression of anger and turns her head back as her eyes glow. When Shiir-Kov tried to slash at her, she put up a forcefield around herself and Jackal, protecting them from the attack. She then shoots out the energy in the forcefield to send Shiir-Kov slamming into the ground.

Raven wastes no time in trying to do away with Shiir-Kov. She uses her powers to overturn her hood, then as she stands and turns toward him, her energy is building up and she is holding Shiir-Kov's body in her dark aura. With a wave of her right hand, she lifts him into the air and slams him face-down into the ground, then lifts him up and slams him again, then she begins "pinballing" him all over the sanctuary repeatedly, including scraping him across the ground and smashing him head-first into the walls. After her flurry was done, she slams and pins his back into a wall and holds him there, then she uses her left hand to lift up a large broken column, moves it over toward Shiir-Kov, and swings it like a baseball bat straight into Shiir-Kov's face, sending him through the wall and under more rubble. The other Titans look on in awe at the brutality, seeing a brutal side of Raven that they've never witnessed before.

Beast Boy happens to look up as the team searches for the pills. "Ok…..She's scaring me", he says with a sweatdrop.

Raven turns back to Jackal, who is starting to fade out. "No you don't, Jackal! Stay with me!" She puts out her hands to heal him.

Robin yells out, "RAVEN, LOOK OUT!"

Shiir-Kov reappears behind Raven, a bloody mess once again, and grabs her head from behind with the palm of his right hand and holds her over the ground with his hand alone, attempting to crush her head in the process. The other Titans try to respond, but are only blown back by a powerful flame wave.

"Is that really the best you can do?", says a cocky Shiir-Kov.

Raven's eyes glow as she angers. "You haven't seen anything yet."

With her right fist charged in darkness, she shoots it upward as a shadow copy of her fist shoots up from the shadow between herself and Shiir-Kov and uppercuts Shiir-Kov, causing him to drop Raven as he lands on his back. After dropping to her feet, Raven turns to him and holds her palm upward at eye level.

"_Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!"_, yells Raven with authority as she forms a baseball-shaped ball of spinning dark energy in her hand and it levitates over her palm.

Once Shiir-Kov stands again, she sends the ball out and hits him right between the eyes, and then manipulates the ball to repeatedly come back around, hitting Shiir-Kov repeatedly with the ball traveling around at least 100mph. Raven continues this until she hits Shiir-Kov at least fifty times. To finish Shiir-Kov off, she clips him behind his right kneecap to put him down onto his back. As he lies there, she lifts the ball about twenty feet above his body and increases the size of the ball until its shadow completely covered Shiir-Kov's body. She then slams the ball down on his body three times, leaving a meteor-sized crater in its wake.

Beast Boy is in a trance, sweating profusely. "Dude, seriously, she's scaring me."

"I got em", says Cyborg as he finds the pills and hands them out. He looks up at the recent carnage. "…Did she do it?"

After moments of silence, it was assessed that Raven defeated Shiir-Kov. She quickly turns around to heal Jackal, but she is separated from him when a line of flames blocked her path to Jackal. She quickly turns to see Shiir-Kov standing right behind her, massively injured, but slowly healing. He immediately grabs her by her neck, punches her right between her eyes, and hurls her by her neck into a wall across the sanctuary. At that second, the other Titans immediately pop the pills and attack.

Cyborg blasts Shiir-Kov in the back with a sonic beam. Shiir-Kov howls in pain as he turns to the advancing Titans. With much of his energy expanded, his wounds are taking longer to heal.

"You four are starting to become a nuisance!", Shiir-Kov says angrily.

Cyborg fires another beam. Shiir-Kov deflects it and summons a flame eruption under Cyborg, which blows him down to the ground. Beast Boy flies high up in pterodactyl form, and then morphs into a lion to pounce on his prey. Shiir-Kov catches Beast Boy and hurls him into Starfire, sending both slamming into the ground. Robin makes an attempt at hand-to-hand combat once again, sending kicks, punches and staff attacks at blazing speeds. All are dodged and blocked, and then Shiir-Kov catches Robin's last kick, lifts him by his leg and slams him into the ground hard, cracking the ground. He holds him upside down afterward and punches him straight in the chest, sending Robin flying straight into the dog pile of his fellow Titans. Shiir-Kov teleports in front of Raven, who is bleeding from the head and weakened against a wall.

Shiir-Kov tilts Raven's chin up to look at him. "I should thank you, my dear. For if it weren't for your sweet, sweet blood, I wouldn't be standing here on this day", he says as he wipes the blood with his finger and licks it off.

Jackal peeks over as he feels his heartbeat slowing down. "…No…Ra…ven…"

Shiir-Kov continues. "And you have shown me a good time today with your valiant battle. I have enjoyed my ascension into this realm, thanks to you."

"…Ra…ven…I'm…sorry…", says Jackal with his final breathe.

Jackal's heartbeat slows down to its last few beats. Once his heart beats its last beat, he closes his eyes to die. However, his heart rate suddenly picks up at a very fast rate. Jackal's eyes shoot open as his body begins to quickly heat back up, causing him some internal pain and irritation.

"Since you've made this all possible," says Shiir-Kov, "I'm going to give you a special gift."

Tears begin running from Raven's eyes. Meanwhile, Jackal shuts his eyes as he moans in pain, his wounds and injuries beginning to heal, and he starts growing demon-like teeth and claws.

Shiir-Kov wipes a tear from Raven's face. "I will allow you to die a quick and painless death", he says as he extends claws on his left hand.

As Raven braces for the worst, Jackal completely heals and transforms into a more demonic form.

"Rest in peace, my child", says Shiir-Kov.

He brings his hand back just as Jackal shoots open his eyes, which are now completely blackened over from the demonic form. Not even a split second after, Jackal appears behind Shiir-Kov and catches his hand. Shiir-Kov is surprised by this and looks behind him, while Raven opens her teary eyes to see what's going on. Jackal stands behind Shiir-Kov grasping his hand and looking straight into his eyes. Everyone there, especially Raven, is in shock at Jackal's pure demonic form. Without losing eye contact at all, Jackal lets out a very loud and demonic roar at Shiir-Kov, marking an aggressive challenge to the demonic overlord. From the looks of it, this marks what may be the start of a very climatic battle: Demon Jackal vs. Shiir-Kov.

TO BE CONTINUED


End file.
